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THE 


LIFE  AND  EXPLORATIONS 


OF 


DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


BY 


JOHN  S.  ROBERTS, 


Author  of  "  Wild  Animals  in  Freedom  and  Captivity"  **  Memoir  of  John  Bunyan  ; 
Editor  of"  Legendary  Ballad  Poetry  of  England  and  Scotland,'''' 
" Burm's  Poetical  and  Prose  Works"  Sfc. 


INCLUDING 

EXTKACTS  FROM  DR.  LIVINGSTONE'S  LAST  JOURNAL, 

BY 

REV.  E.  A.  MANNING. 


BOSTON: 
B.  B.  RUSSELL,  55  CORNHILL. 

PHILADELPHIA :  QUAKER-CITY  PUBLISHING-HOUSE. 
PORTLAND:  JOHN  RUSSELL. 

1875. 


BOSTON: 

STEREOTYPED  AND  PRINTED  BY  RAND,  AVERY,  AND  COMPANY. 


PEEFAOE. 


♦ 

When  the  report  of  the  death  of  Dr.  Livingstone  reached 
this  country,  many  people  refused  to  credit  the  melancholy 
intelligence.  He  had  so  often  been  given  up  for  lost,  and 
mourned  as  dead,  his  countrymen  were  at  first  reluctant  to 
believe  that  the  grand  old  man  would  never  more  be  seen 
amongst  them. 

Ever  since  the  indomitable  Stanley  took  his  last  look  of  the 
great  traveller,  —  who,  although  for  nearly  six  years  he  had 
been  wholly  cut  off  from  civilization,  still  lingered,  self-exiled, 
until  his  work  should  be  completed,  —  the  interest  in  his  move- 
ments has  not  abated.  From  the  Congo,  or  from  the  Nile,  — 
according  to  the  opinions  formed  as  to  the  further  course  of  the 
mysterious  Lualaba,  whose  gathering  waters  he  had  followed 
from  the  uplands  which  divide  the  African  central  valley  from 
that  of  the  Zambesi,  to  a  point  within  a  couple  of  hundred 
miles  of  the  hitherto  supposed  head-waters  of  the  Mle, — 
intelligence  of  his  movements  has  been  looked  for  with  an 
impatience  which  shows  how  strong  an  impression  this  remark- 
able man,  and  his  extraordinary  career,  have  made  upon  the 
public  mind. 

The  life  of  this  truly  great  man,  from  its  childhood  to  its 
close,  is  a  living  lesson  which  the  youth  of  our  country  cannot 
take  too  closely  to  heart.  The  child  and  boy,  who,  while  under- 
going the  drudgery  of  twelve  hours'  daily  labor  in  a  factory, 
found  time  and  means  to  educate  himself  for  the  noble  office 
of  the  Christian  mission  to  the  heathen,  is  as  interesting  and 
instructive  a  study  as  that  of  the  grown  man,  whose  determined 
will  and  untiring  effort  have  made  us  familiar  with  more  of 


4 


PREFACE. 


the  formerly  unknown  regions  of  the  earth  than  any  previous 
explorer  of  ancient  or  of  modern  times. 

The  present  narrative  —  mainly  designed  for  that  large  class 
of  modern  readers  who  have  neither  the  time  nor  the  oppor- 
tunity for  becoming  acquainted  with  the  many  sources  from 
which  it  has  been  gleaned  —  has  been  written  in  brief  intervals 
of  leisure  during  the  past  eighteen  months. 

And  it  is  believed  that  this  brief  account  of  his  career  will 
tend  to  increase  and  maintain  the  interest,  which  the  melan- 
choly termination  of  his  career  has  revived,  in  the  great  and 
noble  work  to  which  he  devoted,  and  for  which  he  sacrificed, 
his  life. 

In  presenting  a  new  edition  to  the  public,  we  are  happy  to 
be  able  to  incorporate  all  the  essential  results  of  Dr.  Living- 
stone's Last  Journal  of  his  third  attempt  to  open  Central  Af- 
rica more  fully  to  the  civilized  world,  —  an  object  for  which 
he  seemed  so  ardently  to  live,  and  for  which  he  certainly  was 
so  ready  to  die,  —  always  bearing  in  mind,  what  he  never  for  an 
instant  lost  sight  of,  viz.,  the  discovery  of  the  real  source  of  the 
Nile,  and  Africa's  redemption  from  the  vile  curse  of  the  slave- 
trade. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I.  PAOa 
Early  Tears.  — Education. — Arrival  at  Cape  Town  as  a  Missionary  .     .  7 

CHAPTER  II.  ^ 
Arrives  at  Kuruman.  —  Visits  the  Bechuana  Tribes.  —  Resolves  to  settle 
among  the  Bakwains.  —  Marriage.  —  Journeys  to  the  Zouga  River.  — 
The  Bakwains  attacked  by  the  Boers  19 

'  CHAPTER  III. 
The  Kalahari  Desert.  —  Discovers  Lake  Ngami.  —  Visits  Sebituane.— 
Death  of  Sebituane. —Discovers  the  Zambesi      •     V      *      ■      •  32 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Attack  on  Kolobeng  by  the  Boers.  —  Starts  on  his  Great  Journey    .      .  43 
CHAPTER  V. 

Preparations  for  Departure.  —  Ascends  the  Leeambye  and  the  Leeba.  — 

Abundance  of  Animal  Life.  —  Two  Female  Chiefs.  —  Visits  Shinte  .  60 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Visits  Katema's  Town. — Is  hospitably  entertained. — Lake  Dilolo. — 

Crosses  the  Quango.  —  Cassange.  —  Arrival  at  Loanda  .      ...  79 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Stay  at  Loanda.  —  Starts  on  Return  Journey. —  Dr.  Livingstone  again 
attacked  with  Fever.  —  The  Makololo  suffer  from  Sickness.  —  Descent 
of  the  Leeba  and  Leeambye.  —  Arrival  at  Linyanti      ....  106 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Starts  for  the  East  Coast. —The  Victoria  Falls.  — The  Batoka  Tribes.— 

Reaches  Zumbo,  a  deserted  Portuguese  Settlement      ....  123 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Arrives  in  England. — Enthusiastic  Reception.  —  Departs  again  for  the 
Zambesi.  —  Arrives  at  the  Kongone  Mouth  of  that  River.  —  Passes 
up  the  Zambesi  152 

CHAPTER  X. 

Ascends  the  Shire.  —Friendly  Natives. — Discovers  Lake  Shirwa.  —  Con- 
tact with  Slave-hunters  .166 

1*  6 


6 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XL 

Starts  for  Linyanti.  —  Cutting  up  an  Elephant.  —  The  "  Go-Naked  "  Tribe, 

—  The  Victoria  Falls.— Finds  Sekeletuill      ......  !81 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Descends  the  Zambesi.— Arrival  of  Bishop  Mackenzie.— Liberates  a 
Band  of  Slaves.  —  Death  of  Bishop  Mackenzie.  —  Arrival  and  Death 
of  Mrs.  Livingstone   197 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Dreadful  Results  of  a  Slave  Raid.  —  Dr.  Livingstone  recalled.  —  Journey 
of  Exploration  beyond  Lake  Nyassa.  —  Starts  for  Home.  —  Arrival 
in  England  218 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Starts  a  Third  Time  for  Africa.  —  His  reported  Murder.  —  Expedition 
sent  in  Search  of  him.  —  Letters  from  himself.  —  Again  lost  to  View. 

—  Mr.  H.  M.  Stanley  finds  him  at  Ujiji    .   226 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Dr.  Livingstone  as  found  by  Mr.  Stanley.  —  Expedition  to  North  End  of 
Lake  Tanganyika.  —  Dr.  Livingstone  accompanies  Mr.  Stanley  to 
Unyanyembe.  —  Mr.  Stanley's  Arrival  in  England.  —  Sketch  of  his 
Life  .269 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Letters  of  Dr.  Livingstone.  — Incidents  of  Travel.  —  The  Slave  Trade  in 

Central  Africa.. —  Geographical  Conclusions,  &c  278 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
Sir  Bartle  Frere's  Mission.  —  Expeditions  sent  to  assist  Dr.  Livingstons. 

— His  Death.  —  Some  Account  of  his  Family,  &c  320 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Account  of  Last  Illness  and  Death  of  Dr.  Livingstone.  —  Public  Funeral 

in  Westminster  Abbey,  &c  330 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Reaches  Zanzibar.  —  Ravages  of  Slave-stealers.  —  Theory  of  Inundations. 

—  Vultures.  —  Smelting  Iron.  —  Loss  of  Medicines.  —  Lake  Tangan- 
yika. —Cropping  Ears.  —  History  of  Joseph  and  his  Brethren  familiar 
to  the  Natives.  —  Current  through  Tanganyika.  —  Timidity  of  people. 

—  Circumcision.  —  Beautiful  Country.  —  Illness.  —  Reaches  Lualaba.  351 

CHAPTER  XX. 

First  Hostility  of  Natives.  —  Very  Feeble.  —  Stanley  arrives.  —  Goes  with 
Stanley  to  Unyanyembe.  —  Stanley  returns.  —  The  Doctor  starts  for 
the  Nile  Fountains.  —  Encouragement  for  Missionary  Work.  — 
Reaches  Bangweolo.  —  Fails  rapidly.  —  Last  hours  and  Death    .      .  37 1 


THE  LIFE  AND  EXPLORATIONS 

OP 

DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


CHAPTER  I. 

EARLY  YEARS.  — EDUCATION.  — ARRIVAL  AT  CAPE  TOWN  AS 
,      A  MISSIONARY. 

David  Livingstone  was  born  at  Blantyre,  near  Glas- 
gow, in  1813.  He  was  the  son  of  humble  but  respecta- 
ble parents,  whose  simple  piety  and  worth  were  noticeable 
even  in  a  community,  which,  in  those  days,  ranked  above 
the  average  for  all  those  manly  and  self-denying  virtues 
which  were,  a  few  generations  ago,  so  characteristic  of  the 
lower  classes  of  Scotland.  Humble  and  even  trying  cir- 
cumstances did  not  make  them  discontented  with  their 
lot,  nor  tend  to  make  them  forget  the  stainless  name 
which  had  descended  to  them  from  a  line  of  predecessors 
whose  worldly  circumstances  were  hardly  better  than  their 
own. 

In  the  introduction  to  his  "  Missionary  Travels  and 
Researches  "  in  South  Africa,  published  in  1857,  Dr.  Liv- 
ingstone gave  a  brief  and  modest  sketch  of  his  early 
years,  together  with  some  account  of  the  humble,  although 
notable  family  from  which  he  sprang.    "  One  great-grand- 

r 


8  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

father,"  he  tells  us,  "  fell  at  the  battle  of  Culloden,  fight- 
ing  for  the  old  line  of  kings  ;  and  one  grandfather  was  a 
small  farmer  in  Ulva,  where  my  father  was  born.  It  is 
one  of  that  cluster  of  the  Hebrides  thus  spoken  of  by  Sir 
Walter  Scott :  — 

1  And  Ulva  dark,  and  Colonsay, 
And  all  the  group  of  islets  gay 
That  guard  famed  Staff  a  round.' 

"  Our  grandfather  was  intimately  acquainted  with  ail 
the  traditionary  legends  which  that  great  writer  has  sin  fie 
made  use  of  in  4  The  Tales  of  a  Grandfather,'  and  other 
works.  As  a  boy,  I  remember  listening  with  delight,  for 
his  memory  was  stored  with  a  never-ending  stock  of  sto- 
ries ;  many  of  which  were  wonderfully  like  those  I  have 
since  heard  while  sitting  by  the  African  evening  fires. 
Our  grandmother,  too,  used  to  sing  Gaelic  songs,  some  of 
which,  as  she  believed,  had  been  composed  by  captive 
Highlanders  languishing  among  the  Turks." 

The  reverence  of  your  true  Highlander  for  his  ancestors, 
and  his  knowledge  of  them  and  their  doings  for  many 
generations,  have  been  frequently  the  subject  of  mirth  to 
the  Lowlanders,  or  Sassenachs  as  they  are  termed  by  the 
Celts  ;  but,  in  such  instances  as  that  of  the  family  of  which 
we  are  treating,  such  feelings  are  not  only  virtues,  but  are 
the  incentives  to  bold  and  manly  effort  in  the  most  trying 
circumstances.  Livingstone  tells  us  that  his  grandfather 
could  rehearse  traditions  of  the  families  for  six  generations 
before  him.  One  of  these  was  of  a  nature  to  make-  a 
strong  impression  on  the  imaginative  and  independent 
mind  of  the  boy,  even  when  almost  borne  down  with  toil 
too  severe  for  his  years.  He  says,  u  One  of  these  poor, 
hardy  islanders  was  renowned  in  the  district  for  great  wis- 


EARLY  YEARS. 


9 


dom  and  prudence  ;  and  it  is  related,  that,  when  he  was  on 
his  death-bed,  he  called  all  his  children  around  him,  and 
said,  '  Now,  in  my  lifetime  I  have  searched  most  carefully 
through  all  the  traditions  I  could  find  of  our  family  ;  and 
I  never  could  discover  that  there  was  a  dishonest  man 
among  our  forefathers.  If,  therefore,  any  of  you,  or  any 
of  your  children,  should  take  to  dishonest  ways,  it  will  not 
be  because  it  runs  in  our  blood :  it  does  not  belong  to 
you.    I  leave  this  precept  with  you  :  Be  honest.' " 

With  pardonable  pride,  and  some  covert  sarcasm,  Liv- 
ingstone points  out  that  at  the  period  in  question,  accord- 
ing to  Macaulay,  the  Highlanders  "  were  much  like  Cape 
Caffres  ;  and  any  one,  it  was  said,  could  escape  punishment 
for  cattle-stealing  by  presenting  a  share  of  the  plunder  to 
his  chieftain. "  Macaulay's  assertion  was  true  of  the  clans 
and  bands  of  broken  men  who  dwelt  near  the  Highland 
line.  But,  even  in  their  case,  these  cattle-lifting  raids 
hardly  deserved  the  designation  of  pure  theft ;  as,  even  up 
to  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  they  looked  upon  the 
Lowland ers  as  an  alien  race,  and  consequently  enemies, 
whom  it  was  lawful  to  despoil ;  the  conduct  of  the  needy 
and  ambitious  nobles  who  drove  them  from  their  native 
haunts,  where  their  fathers  had  lived  and  hunted  for  cen- 
turies, with  a  view  to  possessing  themselves  of  their 
inheritance,  too  often  furnishing  a  sufficient  excuse  for  the 
deeds  of  violence  and  plunder  which  figure  so  prominently 
in  the  annuls  of  the  country,  down  even  to  the  days  of 
George  II. 

Like  most  of  the  Highlanders,  his  ancestors  were 
Roman  Catholics ;  but,  when  Protestantism  got  fairly 
established  in  Scotland,  the  apostac}T  of  the  chief  was  fol- 
lowed by  that  of  the  entire  clan.  Livingstone  says,  "  They 
were  made  Protestants  by  the  laird  (the  squire)  coming 


10 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


round,  with  a  man  having  a  yellow  staff,  which  would  seem 
to  have  attracted  more  attention  than  his  teaching  ;  for  the 
new  religion  went  long  afterwards,  perhaps  it  does  so  still, 
by  the  name  of  '  the  religion  of  the  staff.' " 

In  the  olden  time,  religion  to  them  was  only  secondary 
to  their  devotion  and  attachment  to  their  chief,  and  never 
seems  to  have  taken  any  firm  hold  of  their  imaginations 
The  country  was  poor  in  money,  and  the  priests  they  were 
familiar  with  were  poor  and  ignorant ;  and,  within  the 
Highland  line,  there  were  no  splendid  edifices,  or  pomps  of 
worship,  to  rouse  their  enthusiasm :  so  that  the  abandon- 
ment of  their  old  mode  of  worship  was  no  sacrifice. 

With  the  breaking-up  of  the  clans,  and  the  introduction 
of  industrial  occupation,  and  the  teaching  and  preaching 
of  devoted  adherents  of  the  new  religion,  the  minds  of  the 
Highlanders  were  moved  ;  and  for  man}T  generations,  and 
even  at  the  present  da}7,  the  Presbyterian  form  of  worship 
has  no  more  zealous  adherents  than  the  people  of  the 
Highlands  of  Scotland.  The  man  with  the  3Tellow  staff 
was,  in  all  likelihood,  one  of  the  commissioners  sent  out 
by  the  General  Assembly  to  advocate  the  cause  of  the  new 
religion  among  those  who  were  either  indifferent,  or  were 
too  remote  from  Edinburgh  to  be  affected  by  the  deadly 
struggle  for  supremacy  which  was  going  on  between  the 
old  creed  and  the  new  religion. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  last  century,  finding  the  small 
farm  in  Ulva  insufficient  for  the  maintenance  qf  his  fami- 
ly, Livings  tone's  grandfather  removed  to  Blantyre  ;  where 
he,  for  a  number  of  years,  occupied  a  position  of  trust  in 
the  employment  of  Messrs.  Monteith  &  Co.,  of  Blantyre 
Cotton  Works,  his  sons  being  employed  as  clerks.  It 
formed  part  of  the  old  man's  duty  to  convey  large  sums 
of  money  to  and  from  Glasgow  ;  and  his  unflinching  hon- 


EARLY  YEARS. 


li 


est}',  in  this  and  other  ways,  won  him  the  respect  and 
esteem  of  his  employers,  who  settled  a  pension  on  him 
when  too  old  to  continue  his  services. 

Livingstone's  uncles  shared  in  the  patriotic  spirit  which 
roused  the  country  during  the  war  with  France,  and  en- 
tered the  service  of  the  king ;  but  his  father,  having 
recently  got  married,  settled  down  as  a  small  grocer,  the 
returns  from  which  business  were  so  small  as  to  necessi- 
tate his  children  being  sent  to  the  factory  as  soon  as  they 
could  earn  any  thing  to  assist  in  the  family  support. 
David  Livingstone  was  but  ten  years  of  age, /in  1823, 
when  he  entered  the  mill  as  a  "  piecer  ; "  where  he  was 
employed  from  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  eight 
o'clock  at  night,  with  intervals  for  breakfast  and  dinner. 
In  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a  hundred,  this  early  introduc- 
tion to  a  life  of  toil  would  have  been  the  commencement 
of  a  lifetime  of  obscure  and  daily  toil.  Let  us  see  how 
David  Livingstone  bore  and  conquered  the  cruel  circum- 
stances of  his  boyhood,  and  made  for  himself  a  name 
which  is  known  and  respected  throughout  the  civilized 
world,  and  is  accepted  by  the  savage  inhabitants  of  Cen- 
tral Africa  as  conveying  to  their  mind  all  that  is  best  in 
the  character  of  u  the  white  man." 

Between  the  delicate  "  piecer"  boy  of  ten,  and  the  mid- 
dle-aged man  who  returned  to  England  after  an  absence 
of  sixteen  years,  in  December,  1856,  with  a  world-wide 
reputation,  there  was  a  mighty  hill  of  difficulty  nobly  sur- 
mounted ;  and  we  cannot  attach  too  much  importance  tc 
the  mode  in  which  he  conquered  those  difficulties  and  hin- 
derances,  which,  but  that  they  are  mastered  every  now 
and  again  in  our  sight  by  some  bold  and  daring  spirit, 
we  are  almost  inclined  to  think  insurmountable.  It  is  a 
true  saying,  that  every  man  who  has  earned  distinction 


12  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  LL.D. 


must  have  been  blessed  with  a  parent  or  parents  of  no 
mean  order,  whatever  their  position  in  society.  What 
his  ancestors  were  like,  we  gather  from  his  own  brief  allu- 
sion to  them ;  and  the  few  remarks  he  makes  regarding 
his  parents  and  their  circumstances,  supplemented  by 
some  information  procured  from  one  who  knew  them, 
enables  me  to  give  a  picture  of  his  home  surroundings, 
which  will  assist  materially  in  estimating  the  courageous 
spirit  which  carried  the  delicate  and  overworked  boy 
safely  through  all  his  early  toils  and  trials. 

To  the  mere  observer,  Livingstone's  father  appeared  to 
be  somewhat  stern  and  taciturn,  and  an  over-strict  disci- 
plinarian, where  the  members  of  his  family  were  con- 
cerned. But,  under  a  cold  and  reserved  exterior,  he 
sheltered  a  warm  heart ;  and  his  real  kindliness,  as  well  as 
his  truth  and  uprightness,  are  cherished  in  the  memories 
of  his  family  and  his  intimates.  He  was  too  truthful  and 
conscientious  to  become  rich  as  a  small  grocer  in  a  coun- 
try village  ;  while  his  real  goodness  of  heart  induced  him 
to  trust  people  whose  necessities  were  greater  than  their 
ability  or  desire  to  pay,  to  the  further  embarrassment  of  a 
household  his  limited  business  made  severe  enough. 

He  brought  up  his  children  in  connection  with  the 
Church  of  Scotland  ;  which  he  left,  and  joined  an  independ- 
ent body  worshipping  in  Hamilton,  some  miles  distant, 
after  the}7  had  all  grown  up.  Speaking  of  the  Christian 
example  he  set  before  his  family,  his  famous  son  says, 
■ c  He  deserved  my  lasting  gratitude  and  homage  for  pre- 
senting me  from  infancy  with  a  continuously  consistent 
pious  example,  such  as  that,  the  ideal  of  which  is  so 
beautifully  and  truthfully  portrayed  in  Burns's  4  Cotter's 
Saturday  Night.' "  He  was  a  strict  disciplinarian,  and 
looked  with  small  favor  on  his  son's  passion  for  reading 


EARLY  YEARS. 


13 


scientific  books,  and  works  of  travel ;  but  his  son  had 
much  of  his  own  stubborn  and  independent  temperament 
where  he  supposed  himself  to  be  in  the  right,  and  sturdily 
preferred  his  own  selection  of  books  to  i  c  The  Cloud  of 
Witnesses/'  "Boston's  Fourfold  State,"  or  "  Wilber- 
foree's  Practical  Christianity."  His  refusal  to  read  the 
latter  work  *  procured  him  a  caning,  which  was  the  last 
occasion  of  his  father's  application  of  the  rod. 

As  is  the  case  of  many  a  young  man  in  like  circum- 
stances, his  father's  importunity,  and  unfortunate  selection 
of  authors,  fostered  a  dislike  for  merely  doctrinal  reading, 
which  continued  until  years  afterwards  ;  when  a  perusal  of 
"  The  Philosophy  of  Religion,"  and  the  "  Philosophy  of 
a  Future  State,"  by  Thomas  Dick,  widened  his  under- 
standing, and  gratified  him  by  confirming  him  in  what  he 
had  all  along  believed,  u  that  religion  and  science  are 
not  hostile,  but  friendly  to  each  other."  Both  his  parents 
had  taken  much  pains  to  instil  the  principles  of  Chris- 
tianity into  his  mind ;  but  it  was  only  after  becoming 
acquainted  with  the  writings  of  Dr.  Dick  and  others  that 
their  efforts  bore  fruit.  The  depth  of  his  religious  con- 
victions may  be  conceived  from  the  sacrifices  he  has  made 
in  his  evangelistic  labors ;  but  his  strong  understanding 
has  saved  him  from  becoming  a  sectary  or  a  bigot.  While 
there  is  no  more  earnest-minded  or  devoted  servant  of 
Christ  living,  there  is  none  so  liberal  and  so  large-hearted 
in  his  acceptance  of  all  honest  and  God-fearing  men  who 
strive  to  uo  good,  whatever  their  creed  may  be. 

His  father  died  in  February,  1856,  at  the  time  when  his 
son  was  making  his  way  from  the  interior  of  Africa  to 
the  coast,  on  his  return  to  England,  "  expecting  ho 
greater  pleasure,  in  this  country,  than  sitting  b}7  our  cot- 
tage fire,  and  telling  him  my  travels.  I  revere  his  mem- 
2 


14  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


ory."  The  applause  of  the  best  and  the  highest  in  the 
land,  in  the  social  circle  or  in  the  crowded  assembly, 
with  hundreds  hanging  on  his  every  word,  was  as  nothing 
compared  to  the  long  talks  he  had  looked  forward  to  with 
the  kindly  though  stern  father  he  had  not  seen  for  so 
many  years.  But  it  was  not  to  be.  He  has  small  notions 
of  the  strength  of  filial  affection  in  the  heart  of  such  a 
man,  who  cannot  sympathize  with  him  in  his  sorrow  and 
disappointment. 

His  mother,  a  kindly  and  gentle  woman,  whose  whole 
thoughts  were  given  up  to  the  care  of  her  children,  and  the 
anxieties  consequent  upon  narrow  means,  was  the  con- 
stant instructor  of  her  children  in  religious  matters.  Her 
distinguished  son  tells  us  that  his  earliest  recollection  of 
her  recalls  a  picture  so  often  seen  among  the  Scottish 
poor,  —  "  that  of  the  anxious  housewife  striving  to  make 
both  ends  meet."  Her  loving  and  kindly  nature  acted  as 
a  valuable  counterpoise  to  the  strict  and  austere  rule  of 
the  father,  and  kept  alive,  in  the  hearts  of  her  children,  a 
love  and  respect  for  all  things  sacred,  which  an  enforced 
study  of  dry  theological  books  might  have  endangered  or 
destroyed. 

The  little  education  which  the  64  piecer"  boy  of  ten  had 
received  had  aroused  within  him  the  desire  for  more  ;  and 
the  genuineness  of  the  desire  was  proved  by  the  pur- 
chase of  a  copy  of  4  4  Ruddiman's  Rudiments  of  Latin " 
with  a  portion  of  his  first  week's  earnings.  For  many 
years  he  pursued  the  study  of  Latin  with  enthusiastic 
ardor ;  receiving  much  assistance  in  this  and  other  studies 
at  an  evening-school,  the  teacher  of  which  was  partly 
supported  by  the  intelligent  members  of  the  firm  at  Blan- 
tyre  works,  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  in  their  employ- 
ment.   Livingstone's  work-hours  were  from  six,  a.m.,  to 


EDUCATION 


15 


eight,  p.m.  ;  school-hours  from  eight  to  ten ;  and  private 
reading  and  study  occupied  from  ten  to  twelve,  when  it 
was  often  necessary  for  his  mother  to  take  possession  of 
his  books  in  order  to  get  the  youthful  student  to  bed. 
Eighteen  hours  out  of  the  twenty-four  were  given  up  to 
toil  and  self-improvement ;  a  remarkable  instance,  truly, 
of  determined  effort,  on  the  part  of  a  mere  boy,  to  acquire 
knowledge  which  his  hard  lot  would  almost  have  seemed 
to  place  beyond  his  reach. 

Even  when  at  work,  the  book  he  was  reading  was  fixed 
upon  the  spinning-jenny,  so  that  he  could  catch  sentence 
after  sentence  as  he  passed  in  his  work.  At  sixteen 
years  of  age,  he  tells  us  that  he  knew  Horace  and  Virgil 
better  than  he  did  in  1857.  Notwithstanding  the  limited 
leisure  at  his  disposal,  he  made  himself  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted with  the  scenery,  botany,  and  geology  of  his 
district.  In  these  excursions  he  was  accompanied  by  his 
elder  and  3'ounger  brothers,  John  and  Charles.  The  for- 
mer of  these  afterwards  settled  in  Canada,  and  became 
successful  in  business :  the  latter  was  educated  for  the 
ministry,  and  labored  for  several  years  in  the  United 
States.  In  1858  he  joined  the  expedition  headed  by  his 
brother,  and  with  him  explored  the  Zambesi  and  its  tribu- 
taries ;  a  considerable  portion  of  the  narrative  of  that 
expedition  being  written  by  him. 

At  nineteen  years  of  age  Livingstone  was  promoted  to 
the  laborious  work  of  a  cotton-spinner ;  and,  while  the 
heavy  toil  pressed  hard  upon  the  young  and  growing  lad, 
he  was  cheered  by  the  reflection  that  the  high  wages  he 
now  earned  would  enable  him,  from  his  summer's  labor,  to 
support  himself  in  Glasgow  during  the  winter  months 
while  attending  medical  and  other  classes  at  the  Univer- 
sity ;  to  attend  which  he  walked  to  and  from  his  father's 


16 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


house  daily,  a  distance  of  nine  miles.  He  never  received 
a  particle  of  aid  from  any  one,  nor  did  the  resolute  youth 
seek  or  expect  such ;  well  knowing  that  his  difficulties 
and  trials  were  no  greater  than  those  of  dozens  of  his  fel- 
lows who  sat  on  the  same  benches  with  him  in  the  class- 
rooms. The  religious  awakening  which  we  have  already 
alluded  to,  which  occurred  when  he  was  about  sixteen  years 
of  age,  inspired  him  with  a  fervent  ambition  to  be  a 
pioneer  of  Christianity  in  China ;  and  his  practical 
instincts  taught  him  that  a  knowledge  of  medicine  would 
be  of  great  service  in  securing  him  the  confidence  of  the 
people  he  was  so  desirous  of  benefiting,  besides  insuring 
his  appointment  as  a  medical  missionary  in  connection 
with  a  society  of  that  name  recently  formed  in  his  native 
land. 

At  the  conclusion  of  his  medical  curriculum,  he  had  to 
present  a  thesis  to  the  examining  body  of  the  Universit3f, 
on  which  his  claim  to  be  admitted  a  member  of  the 
faculty  of  plrysicians  and  surgeons  would  be  judged. 
The  subject  was  one,  which,  in  ordinary  practice,  required 
the  use  of  the  stethoscope  for  its  diagnosis ;  and  it  was 
characteristic  of  the  independence  and  originality  of  the 
man,  that  an  awkward  difference  arose  between  him  and 
the  examiners,  as  to  whether  the  instrument  could  do  what 
was  claimed  for  it.  This  unfortunate  boldness  procured 
him  a  more  than  ordinarily  severe  examination,  through 
which  he  passed  triumphantly.  Alluding  to  this  in  after 
years,  he  dryly  remarks  that  "  the  wiser  plan  would  have 
been  to  have  had  no  opinions  of  my  own."  Looking 
back  over  the  years  of  toil  and  hardship  which  had  led  up 
to  this  important  stage  in  his  career,  and  looking  forward 
to  the  possibilities  of  the  future,  he  might  well  say  that 
"  it  was  with  unfeigned  delight  I  became  a  member  of  s 


EARLY  TEARS. 


17 


profession  which  is  pre-eminently  devoted  to  practica4 
benevolence,  and  which  with  unwearied  energy  pursues, 
from  age  to  age,  its  endeavors  to  lessen  human  woe." 

Writing  in  1857,  he  tells  us,  that  on  reviewing  his  life, 
of  toil  before  his  missionary  career  began,  he  could  feel 
thankful  that  it  was  of  such  a  nature  as  to  prove  a  hardy 
training  for  the  great  enterprises  he  was  destined  after- 
wards to  engage  in  ;  and  he  speaks  with  warm  and  affec- 
tionate respect  of  the  sterling  character  of  the  bulk  of 
the  humble  villagers  among  whom  he  spent  his  early 
years. 

The  outbreak  of  the  opium  war  with  China  compelled 
him  reluctantly  to  abandon  his  cherished  intention  of 
proceeding  to  that  country ;  but  he  was  happily  led  to 
turn  his  thoughts  to  South  Africa,  where  the  successful 
labors  of  Mr.  Robert  Moffat  were  attracting  the  attention 
of  the  Christian  public  in  this  country.  In  September, 
1838,  he  was  summoned  to  London  to  undergo  an  exami- 
nation by  the  directors  of  } '  The  London  Missionary 
Society ; "  after  which  he  was  sent,  on  probation,  to  a 
missionary  training  establishment,  conducted  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Cecil,  at  Chipping  Ongar,  in  Essex.  There  he 
remained  until  the  early  part  of  1840,  applying  himself 
with  his  wonted  diligence  to  his  studies,  and  testifying 
his  disregard  for  hard  labor  by  taking  his  full  share  of 
the  work  of  the  establishment,  such  as  grinding  the  corn 
to  make  the  household  bread,  chopping  wood,  gardening 
operations,  &c. ;  part  of  the  training  at  Chipping  Ongar 
being  a  wise  endeavor  to  make  the  future  missionaries 
able  to  shift  for  themselves  in  the  uncivilized  regions 
in  which  they  might  be  called  upon  to  settle. 

At  Chipping  Ongar  he  indulged  his  habit  of  making 
long  excursions  in  the  country  round  ;  and  on  one 
2* 


18  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D: 

occasion  he  walked  to  and  from  London,  a  distance  of 
fifty  miles  >  in  one  day,  arriving  late  at  night  completely 
exhausted,  as  he  had  hardly  partaken  of  any  food  during 
the  entire  journey.  From  his  earliest  years  up  to  his 
attaining  manhood,  his  training,  both  mental  and  physi- 
cal, had  been  of  the  best  possible  kind  to  fit  him  for  the 
great  career  which  lay  before  him ;  which  may  be  said  to 
have  had  its  commencement  when  he  landed  at  C&pe 
Town  in  1840. 


CHAPTER  H. 

J.  . 

ARRIVES  AT  KURUMAN.  VISITS  THE  BECHUANA  TRIBES.— 

RESOLVES  TO  SETTLE  AMONG  THE  BAKWAINS. —  MARRIAGE. 
—  JOURNEYS  TO  THE  ZOUGA  RIVER. — THE  BAKWAINS 
ATTACKED  BY  THE  BOERS. 

A  regularly  ordained  worker  in  the  Christian  field,  and 
a  well-instructed  doctor  and  surgeon,  with  an  enthusiastic 
love  for  the  work  he  was  engaged  in,  after  a  brief  stay  at 
the  Cape,  he  proceeded,  in  accordance  with  the  instruc- 
tions he  had  received  from  the  Missionary  Society,  to 
Kuruman,  with  the  view  of  establishing  a  mission-station 
still  farther  to  the  north,  where  ground  had  not  yet  been 
broken. 

At  Kuruman  and  neighborhood  he  found  Moffat  and 
his  coadjutors  hard  at  work,  and  remained  with  them  a 
few  months,  familiarizing  himself  with  their  mode  of 
operations,  visiting  and  making  himself  acquainted  with 
the  Bechuana  people,  their  manners  and  customs,  lan- 
guage and  country,  with  a  view  to  settling  amongst  them ; 
the  chief  of  one  of  the  Bechuana  tribes  being  favorable 
to  his  projects. 

In  his  second  preparatory  excursion  into  the  Bechuana 
country,  he  settled  for  six  months  at  a  place  called 
Lepelole ;  completely  isolating  himself  from  European 
society,  in  order  to  obtain  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the 
language.  Deeming  that  this  was  to  be  the  scene  and 
centre  of  future  labors,  he  commenced  his  preparations 

Id 


20 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


for  a  settlement  among  the  Bakwains,  as  that  section  of 
the  Bechuana  people  who  inhabit  the  district  round 
Lepelole  was  named.  When  these  arrangements  were 
almost  completed,  he  made  a  journey,  principally  on  foot, 
to  the  north,  and  penetrated  within  ten  days'  journey  of 
the  lower  part  of  the  River  Zouga ;  and,  if  discovery  had 
been  his  object,  he  might  even  then  have  discovered  Lake 
Ngami.  At  this  time  the  great  traveller's  slim  appear- 
ance gave  little  token  of  the  hardy  endurance  which  was 
to  enable  him  afterwards  to  undergo  months  and  years  of 
toilsome  journeyings  in  regions  never  before  visited  by 
civilized  man ;  but  this  trial  trip  proved  the  pluck  and 
stamina  which  were  to  stand  him  in  so  good  stead  in 
many  undertakings  of  much  greater  magnitude. 

Returning  to  Kuruman,  intelligence  followed  him  that 
the  Bakwains,  among  whom  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to 
settle,  had  been  driven  from  Lepelole  by  the  Barolongs, 
a  neighboring  tribe ;  so  that  he  was  obliged  to  set  out 
anew  in  search  of  another  locality  in  which  to  establish 
his  mission-station,  when  he  fixed  upon  the  valley  of 
Mabotsa.  Here  he  had  an  extraordinary  adventure  with 
a  lion,  which,  from  the  singular  nature  of  his  experiences, 
merits  insertion  here.  Several  lions  had  been  carrying 
destruction  among  the  cattle  of  the  natives ;  and  Living- 
stone went  with  the  people  to  assist  in  the  extermination 
of  the  marauders.  The  lions  were  traced  to  a  small 
wooded  hill,  which  the  people  surrounded,  and  proceeded 
to  beat  through  the  underwood  with  the  view  of  driving 
the  prey  into  a  position  where  the  shooters  could  see  and 
tire  at  them.  Livingston,  having  fired  at  one  of  the  ani- 
ma.s,  was  in  the  act  of  reloading,  when  he  heard  a  shout 
of  warning  from  the  people  near.  "  Starting,  and  looking 
half  round,  I  saw  the  lion  just  in  the  act  of  springing 


ADVENTURE  WITH  A  LION. 


21 


upon  me.  I  was  upon  a  little  height.  He  caught  my 
shoulder  as  he  sprang  ;  and  we  both  came  to  the  ground 
below  together.  Growling  horribly  close  to  my  eai,  he 
shook  me  as  a  terrier  dog  does  a  rat.  The  shock  pro- 
duced a  stupor  similar  to  that  which  seems  to  be  felt  by  a 
mouse  after  the  first  shake  of  the  cat.  It  caused  a  sort 
of  dreaminess,  in  which  there  was  no  sense  of  p£ln,  nor 
feeling  of  terror,  though  quite  conscious  of  all  that  was 
happening.  It  was  like  what  patients  partially  under  the 
influence  of  chloroform  describe,  who  see  all  the  opera- 
tion, but  feel  not  the  knife.  This  singular  condition  was 
not  the  result  of  any  mental  process.  The  shake  annihi- 
lated fear,  and  allowed  no  sense  of  horror  in  looking 
round  at  the  beast.  This  peculiar  state  is  probably  pro- 
duced in  all  animals  killed  by  the  carnivora ;  and,  if  so, 
is  a  merciful  provision  by  our  benevolent  Creator  for 
lessening  the  pain  of  death.  Turning  round  to  relieve 
myself  of  the  weight,  as  he  had  one  paw  on  the  back  of 
my  head,  I  saw  his  eyes  directed  to  Mebalwe  (a  native 
schoolmaster) ,  who  was  trying  to  shoot  him  at  a  distance 
of  ten  or  fifteen  yards.  His  gun,  a  flint  one,  missed  fire 
in  both  barrels  :  the  lion  immediately  left  me,  and,  attack- 
ing Mebalwe,  bit  his  thigh.  Another  man,  whose  hip  I 
had  cured  before,  after  he  had  been  tossed  by  a  buffalo, 
attempted  to  spear  the  lion  while  he  was  biting  Mebalwe : 
he  left  Mebalwe,  and  caught  this  man  by  the  shoulder  ;  but 
at  that  moment  the  bullets  he  had  received  took  effect, 
and  he  fell  down  dead.  .  .  .  Besides  crunching  the  bone 
into  splinters,  he  left  eleven  teeth-wounds  in  my  arm." 

Sechele,  the  chief  of  the  tribe  of  Bakwains,  to  which 
tribe  Livingstone  attached  himself,  was  a  remarkable 
man,  as  had  also  been  his  father  and  grandfather  before 
him.    The  latter  was  a  great  traveller,  and  the  first  that 


22  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVIN7ST0NL  LL.D. 


ever  told  his  people  of  the  existence  of  t,  race  of  white 
men.  During  his  father's  life,  those  two  extraordinary 
travellers,  Dr.  Cowan  and  Capt.  Donovan,  lost  their  lives 
m  his  territory,  and  were  supposed  to  have  been  murdered 
by  the  Bakwains,  until  Livingstone  learned  from  Sechele 
that  they  had  died  from  fever  in  descending  the  River 
Limpopo,  after  they  had  been  hospitably  entertained  by 
his  father  and  his  people.  At  that  time  the  country  was 
rich  in  cattle  and  pasturage,  as  water  was  more  abundant. 
The  country  in  Central  and  Southern  Africa  is  so  rapidly 
undergoing  a  change  through  the  drainage  caused  by  the 
disruption  of  the  soil  carrying  off  the  water  at  a  much 
lower  level,  that  vast  districts,  now  almost  desert,  were 
rich  in  cattle,  and  populous  with  human  beings,  within 
the  memory  of  people  then  living. 

The  father  of  Sechele  was  murdered  when  he  was  a 
boy ;  and  a  usurper  proclaimed  himself  the  head  of  the 
tribe.  The  friends  of  the  children  applied  to  Sebituane, 
chief  of  the  Makololo,  to  reinstate  them,  and  punish  the 
rebels.  This  he  successfully  accomplished  ;  and  between 
him  and  his  subject  tribes,  and  Sechele,  there  was  much 
friendly  relation  in  consequence,  which  ultimately  led  to 
Livingstone's  visiting  Sebituane's  country,  and  making 
the  acquaintance  of  perhaps  the  wisest  native  ruler  he 
came  in  contact  with  in  all  his  wanderings. 

The  government  of  the  Bechuana  tribes  is  patriarchal. 
The  chief  is  the  head  of  the  tribe,  and  a  father  is  the 
chief  of  his  family.  Round  the  hut  of  the  chief  are  the 
huts  of  his  wives,  those  of  his  relations,  and  the  leading 
men  of  the  tribe ;  and  round  the  hut  of  the  father  are 
ranged  those  of  his  family,  when  they  take  up  house. 
Kinship  is  as  minutely  defined,  and  is  as  much  a  matter  of 
pride,  with  the  natives  of  South  Africa,  as  among  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Highlands  of  Scotland. 


FIRST  RELIGIOUS  SERVICE.  23 

The  first  time  Livingstone  held  a  public  religious  service, 
Sechele  listened  with  much  attention ;  and,  on  receiving 
permission  to  ask  questions  regarding  what  he  had  heard, 
inquired  if  Livingstone's  forefathers  knew  of  a  future 
judgment.  On  receiving  an  affirmative  answer,  and  a 
description  of  the  great  white  throne,  and  Him  who  shall 
sit  on  it,  before  whose  face  the  heaven  and  earth  shall  flee 
away,  &c,  he  said,  "  You  startle  me.  These  words  make 
all  my  bones  to  shake.  I  have  no  more  strength  in  me. 
But  my  forefathers  were  living  at  the  same  time  yours 
were ;  and  how  is  it  that  they  did  not  send  them  word 
about  these  terrible  things  sooner?  They  all  passed 
away  into  darkness,  without  knowing  whither  they  were 
going." 

So  eager  was  Sechele  to  learn  to  read,  that  he  acquired 
a  knowledge  of  the  alphabet  on  the  first  day  of  Living- 
stone's residence  at  Chounane.  Mr.  Oswell,  who,  as  we 
shall  see,  afterwards  joined  Livingstone  in  his  expedition 
to  Lake  Ngami,  taught  him  arithmetic.  After  he  was 
able  to  read,  nothing  gave  him  greater  pleasure  than  the 
getting  Livingstone  to  listen  to  his  reading  of  the  Bible. 
Isaiah  was  his  favorite  book;  and  he  would  frequently 
say,  "He  was  a  fine  man,  Isaiah.  He  knew  how  to 
speak."  Sympathizing  with  the  difficulties  encountered 
in  com  erting  his  people,  he  offered  to  convert  them  in  a 
body ;  and  could  hardly  be  made  to  understand  Living 
stone's  objection  to  making  Christians  in  a  wholesale 
manner,  through  the  agency  of  whips  made  of  rhinoceros 
hide.  Thinking  of  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  being 
baptized,  and  making  an  open  profession  of  his  belief  in 
Christianity,  more  especially  as  regarded  the  number  of 
his  wives,  the  putting  away  of  all  of  whom,  save  one, 
would  get  him  into  trouble  with  their  relatives,  he  fre- 


24  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  ZL.D. 


quently  said,  a  Oh !  I  wish  you  had  come  into  this  coun- 
try before  I  became  entangled  in  the  meshes  of  our 
customs."  At  his  own  request,  Livingstone  held  family 
worship  in  his  hut,  in  the  hope .  that  it  might  induce  his 
people  to  become  attached  to  Christianity.  But  as  the 
country  was  at  that  time  suffering  from  a  long-continued 
drought,  which  was  attributed  to  the  chief  taking  up  with 
the  new  religion,  few  attended,  save  the  members  of  his 
own  family.  Speaking  of  the  influence  of  the  example 
of  a  chief  in  all  other  things,  he  said  bitterly,  "  I  love 
the  word  of  God,  and  not  one  of  my  brethren  will  join 
me."  No  doubt,  if  he  had  become  a  drunkard,  or  a  plun- 
derer of  other  tribes,  he  would  have  had  plenty  of  follow- 
ers :  so  powerful  is  evil  example. 

When  he  applied  for  baptism,  Livingstone  asked  him 
since  he  knew  his  Bible,  and  his  duty  as  laid  down  there- 
in, how  he  was  to  act.  He  went  home,  and  sent  all  his 
superfluous  wives  to  their  parents,  with  all  the  goods  and 
chattels  they  had  been  in  the  habit  of  using,  intimating 
that  he  had  no  fault  to  find  with  them,  but  that  he  only 
followed  the  will  of  God.  Crowds  attended  to  witness 
the  baptism  of  Sechele  and  his  family,  many  of  them 
shedding  tears  of  sorrow  over  what  they  termed  the  weak- 
ness of  their  chief  in  forsaking  the  ways  of  his  fore- 
fathers. Notwithstanding  that  he  made  few  converts, 
Livingstone  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  that  the  influence 
of  himself,  and  his  devoted  and  energetic  helpmate  (he 
had  married  a  daughter  of  Robert  Moffat's  in  1844),  was 
attended  with  temporal  results  in  introducing  a  higher 
tone  of  morality  among  the  people.  This  influence  was 
so  strong  as  to  have  prevented  war  on  no  less  than  five 
distinct  occasions. 

The  drought  which  afflicted  the  country  shortly  after 


DAILY  LABORS. 


25 


Livingstone  settled  among  the  people,  and  after  they  had 
removed  to  the  Kolobeng,  —  a  stream  forty  miles  distant 
from  the  previous  settlement,  where  an  experiment  in  irri- 
gation, under  the  direction  of  Livingstone,  was  tried  with 
much  success  for  a  time,  until  the  parent  stream  became 
dried  up,  —  was  popularly  believed  to  be  the  result  of  the 
evil  influence  of  the  missionary  over  the  mind  of  the  chief ; 
the  more  especially  as  he  had  previously  been  a  believer 
in  rain-making j  and  had  a  high  reputation  among  his 
people  as  a  rain-doctor.  After  his  conversion  and  bap- 
tism, he  forswore  the  medicines  and  incantations  with 
which  he  had  previously  charmed  the  rain-clouds  to  descend 
upon  the  land  ;  and  as  this  was  attributed  to  Livingstone's 
influence,  and  the  people  were  starving  for  want  of  food 
and  water  for  months,  it  proved  a  great  hinderance  to  the 
good  work  amongst  them. 

Notwithstanding  their  dislike  to  the  new  religion,  its 
preacher  and  expounder  lived  amongst  them  in  the  most 
perfect  safety.  He  possessed  the  secret  of  ingratiating 
himself  with  these  savage  Africans  in  a  higher  degree  than 
was  ever  before  known ;  and  whether  staying  for  a  time 
among  the  various  tribes,  or  passing  through  their  terri- 
tory, the  respect  with  which  he  has  been  treated  is  the 
most  remarkable  feature  in  his  career.  This  noble,  reso- 
lute, and  God-fearing  man  went  amongst  them  for  their 
good,  and  that  only ;  and  interfered  with  nothing  that  did 
not  lie  directly  in  his  path  of  duty.  With  his  own  hands 
he  built  his  hut,  tilled  his  garden,  and  dug  his  irrigating 
canals.  The  wild  animals,  needful  for  the  food  of  his 
household,  fell  to  his  own  gun  ;  and  the  fruits  of  the  earth 
were  of  his  own  gathering-in.  During  all  his  years  of  labor 
in  South  Africa,  his  mission  cost  the  inhabitants  nothing  ; 
while  they  received  much  in  higher  ideas  of  justice  and 

8 


26  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

right,  and  in  improved  skill  in  husbandry  and  in  the  ccn 
struction  of  their  houses.  Whatever  were  their  feelings 
as  to  the  religion  he  taught,  the  man  himself  was  above 
the  suspicion  of  evil,  and  went  in  and  out  amongst  them, 
a  genuine  representative  to  their  minds  of  manliness, 
truth,  and  justice. 

His  noble  wife  was  no  less  popular.  Her  training,  as 
the  daughter  of  Robert  Moffat,  made  the  trials  of  her  life 
no  sacrifice  to  her.  In  dealing  with  the  women  and 
children,  she  was  most  valuable ;  and  there  cannot  be 
a  doubt  that  the  fact  of  his  being  married,  and  living  a 
happy  and  contented  domestic  life  amongst  them,  had 
a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  influence  he  possessed  over  the 
minds  of  the  ignorant  and  superstitious  Bakwains.  As  a 
blacksmith  and  a  carpenter,  his  skill  was  superior  to  theirs  ; 
and  he  never  hesitated  to  doff  his  coat,  and  give  any  of 
them  the  benefit  of  his  labors  when  skill  was  required ; 
wisely  receiving  some  service  which  they  could  render  him 
as  a  set-off.  In  this  way  a  feeling  of  mutual  dependence 
was  fostered  and  encouraged,  in  which  no  notion  of  charity 
had  a  part. 

In  speaking  of  their  daily  experience,  he  tells  us  that 
they  rose  about  six  o'clock.  "  After  family  worship,  and 
breakfast,  .  .  .  we  kept  school, —men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren being  all  united.  This  lasted  until  eleven  o'clock. 
The  missionary  wife  then  betook  herself  to  her  domestic 
affairs  ;  and  the  missionary  engaged  in  some  manual  labor, 
as  that  of  a  smith,  carpenter,  or  gardener.  If  he  did  jobs 
for  the  people,  they  worked  for  him  in  turn,  and  exchanged 
their  unskilled  labor  for  his  skilled.  Dinner  and  an  hour's 
rest  succeeded  ;  when  the  wife  attended  her  infant  school, 
which  the  young  liked  amazingly,  and  generally  mus- 
tered a  hundred  strong ;  or  she  varied  it  with  sewing 


DAILY  LABORS. 


27 


classes  for  the  girls,  which  were  equally  well  relished. 
During  the  day  every  operation  must  be  superintended, 
and  both  husband  and  wife  must  labor  till  the  sun  declines. 
After  sunset  the  husband  went  into  the  town  to  converse, 
either  on  general  subjects  or  on  religion.  On  thr^e  nights 
of  the  week  we  had  a  public  religious  service,  as  soon  as 
the  milking  of  the  cows  was  over,  and  it  had  become 
dusk ;  and  one  of  instruction  on  secular  subjects,  aided 
by  pictures  and  specimens.  These  services  were  diversi- 
fied by  attending  upon  the  sick,  and  prescribing  for  them, 
giving  food,  and  otherwise  assisting  the  poor  and  wretched. 
The  smallest  acts  of  friendship,  even  an  obliging  word 
and  civil  look,  are,  as  St.  Xavier  thought,  no  despicable 
part  of  the  missionary  armor.  Nor  ought  the  good  opinion 
of  the  most  abject  to  be  neglected,  when  politeness  may 
secure  it.  Their  good  word,  in  the  aggregate,  insures  a 
reputation  which  procures  favor  for  the  gospel.  Show 
kindness  to  the  reckless  opponents  of  Christianity  on  the 
bed  of  sickness,  and  they  never  can  become  your  personal 
enemies  :  there,  if  anywhere,  love  begets  love."  Every  thing 
they  required  had  to  be  manufactured  by  themselves .  Bricks 
to  build  his  house  were  made  by  himself  in  moulds  made 
of  planks  sawn  from  trees  he  felled  in  the  forest.  The 
abundant  forest  furnished  plenty  of  materials  for  roofing, 
doors,  windows,  and  lintels.  The  corn  was  ground  into 
meal  by  his  wife  ;  and,  when  made  into  dough,  was  baked 
in  an  extempore  oven  constructed  in  an  ant-hill,  or  in  a 
covered  frying-pan  placed  in  the  centre  of  a  fire.  A  jar 
served  as  a  churn  for  making  butter.  Candles  were  made 
in  moulds  from  the  tallow  of  various  animals.  Soap  was 
made  from  the  ashes  of  a  plant  called  salsola,  or  from 
ordinary  wood-ashes.  Shut  out  from  all  communication 
with  civilization,  the  toil  and  care  demanded  in  supplying 


28  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


these  very  necessities  did  not  appear  a  hardslip.  He 
says,  "There  is  something  of  the  feeling  which  must 
have  animated  Alexander  Selkirk  on  seeing  conveniences 
spring  up  before  him  from  his  own  ingenuity  ;  and  married 
life  is  all  the  sweeter  when  so  many  comforts  emanate 
directly  from  the  thrifty,  striving  housewife's  hands." 

The  good  done  by  continuous  labor  of  this  kind,  under- 
taken in  so  noble  and  self-denying  a  spirit,  is  incalculable. 
If  the  grown-up  men  and  women  resisted  his  persuasion, 
and  held  coldty  aloof  from  his  teaching  of  the  gospel, 
their  respect  for  him  induced  them  to  permit  their  children 
to  attend  the  various  religious  and  secular  classes  taught 
by  him  and  his  devoted  wife.  The  seed  sown  in  these 
young  minds,  before  the  superstitions  of  their  elders  had 
taken  root,  will,  in  time,  bring  forth  an  abundant  reward 
for  the  earnest  labor  expended  ;  while  their  general  com- 
fort will  be  greatly  enhanced  by  the  superior  knowledge 
acquired  from  him  in  husbandry  and  other  peaceful  avo- 
cations. 

In  a  new  country,  just  beyond  the  pale  of  civilization, 
always  advancing,  as  law  and  order  are  extended,  reckless 
and  adventurous  men,  most  of  whom  are  fugitives  from 
justice,  establish  themselves,  and  prey  upon  the  savage 
tribes,  who  are  unable  to  defend  themselves  from  their 
cruelty  and  exactions.  A  band  of  such  men,  under  the 
leadership  of  a  Mr.  Hendrick  Potgeiter,  had  established 
themselves  as  far  into  the  interior  as  the  Cashan  Moun- 
tains, on  the  borders  of  the  Bechuana  territory.  At  first 
they  were  warmly  welcomed  by  the  Bechuanas,  because 
they  had  conquered  and  expelled  a  Caffre  chief,  who  had 
exercised  a  cruel  authority  over  the  neighboring  tribes. 
Their  joy  was  shortlived,  as  they  found  that  the  Boers,  as 
Potgeiter  and  his  followers  were  called,  compelled  them 


HOSTILITY  OF  TEE  BOERS. 


29 


to  do  all  their  manual  labor  without  fee  or  reward. 
These  men  looked  with  no  favorable  eye  on  the  doings  of 
Livingstone,  when  they  found  that  they  could  ^either 
frighten  nor  coerce  him.  The  teaching,  that  -all  men  were 
equal  in  the  sight  of  God,  was  most  distasteful  to  men 
who  lived  upon  the  enforced  labor  —  the  slavery,  in  fact 
—  of  the  tribes  around  them.  When  threats  had  no 
avail,  thejr  circulated  reports  that  he  had  with  him  quan- 
tities of  firearms,  and  that  he  was  assisting  the  Bakwains 
to  make  war  against  their  neighbors.  As  they  could 
make  nothing  of  Livingstone,  they  sent  a  threatening 
letter  to  Sechele,  commanding  him  to  surrender  to  the 
Dutch,  and  acknowledge  himself  their  vassal,  and  to  stop 
English  traders  from  proceeding  into  the  country.  This 
last  was  the  true  bone  of  contention.  Possessing  a  better 
knowledge  of  the  value  of  skins,  ivory,  &c,  than  the 
Bechuanas,  they  wished  to  close  the  country  against  any 
traders  but  themselves. 

Sechele,  notwithstanding  the  risk  he  ran  in  quarrelling 
with  them,  sent  them  a  bold  and  resolute  reply :  — 

"I  am  an  independent  chief,  placed  here  by  God,  not 
you.  Other  tribes  you  have  conquered,  but  not  me.  The 
English  are  my  friends.  I  get  every  thing  I  wish  from 
them.  I  cannot  hinder  them  from  going  where  they 
like." 

The  Boers  had  broken  up  and  sacked  several  mission- 
stations,  and  conquered  the  tribes  whicfi  gave  them  shel- 
ter ;  carrying  away  men  and  women  as  slaves.  But  Liv- 
ingstone and  the  friendly  Bakwains  escaped  until  he  was 
absent  on  his  first  journey  to  Lake  Ngami ;  when  four 
hundred  armed  Boers  attacked  Sechele,  and  slaughtered  a 
considerable  number  of  adults,  and  carried  away  over  two 
hundred  children  as  captives.    The  Bakwains  defended 

3* 


30 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


themselves  bravely  until  nightfall,  killing  eight  of  the 
Boers,  when  they  retreated  to  the  mountains.  Under  the 
pretext  that  Livingstone  had  taught  them  to  defend  them- 
selves, and  was  consequently  responsible  for  the  slaughter 
of  their  fellows,  his  house  was  plundered,  his  books  and 
stock  of  medicines  destroyed.  His  furniture  and  clothing, 
and  large  quantities  of  stores  left  by  English  gentlemen 
who  had  gone  northward  to  hunt,  were  carried  off,  and 
sold  to  pay  the  expenses  of  their  lawless  raid.  The  rea- 
son so  few  of  the  Boers  were  slain  in  this,  as  in  other 
similar  expeditions  in  which  they  indulged,  was  because 
they  compelled  natives  they  had  conquered  and  enslaved 
to  take  their  places  in  the  front,  while  they  fired  upon  the 
people  over  their  heads  in  comparative  safety.  In  speak- 
ing of  the  determined  opposition  of  the  Boers,  Living- 
stone says,  "  The  Boers  resolved  to  shut  up  the  interior, 
and  I  determined  to  open  the  country ;  and  we  shall  see 
who  has  been  most  successful  in  resolution,  —  they  or  I." 

During  the  continuance  of  the  drought,  the  Bakwains 
suffered  great  privations,  which  Livingstone  and  his  wife 
shared.  The  wild  animals  leave  a  district  in  such  circum- 
stances ;  and  the  domestic  animals,  that  are  not  killed  and 
eaten  to  sustain  life,  die  of  hunger  and  thirst.  Every 
thing  that  would  sell  was  disposed  of  to  tribes  more  favor- 
ably situated,  in  exchange  for  corn  and  other  necessities. 
The  country  round  was  scoured  by  women  and  children 
for  the  numerous  tmlbous  plants  which  could  sustain  life  ; 
while  the  men  hunted  for  wild  animals  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  infrequent  fountains,  where  they  came  to  slake 
their  thirst  in  their  wanderings  over  the  arid  and  sun-dried 
country. 

Sometimes  when  a  herd  of  antelopes,  zebras,  quaggas, 
&c,  were  discovered  in  the  neighborhood,  they  were  sur- 


SEVERE  DROUGHT. 


31 


rounded,  and  driven  with  shouts  into  a  V-shaped  enclosure, 
at  the  end  of  which  a  huge  pit  was  dug,  into  which  they 
fell,  and  were  despatched  with  spears.  The  meat  was 
equally  divided  among  the  people,  Livingstone  coming  in 
for  his  share  with  the  rest.  But  for  the  frequent  recur- 
rence of  such  lucky  hauls  as  this,  the  sufferings  of  the 
people  from  an  exclusive  and  scanty  vegetable  diet  must 
have  been  extreme. 

Livingstone  was  mainly  dependent  upon  his  friends  at 
Kuruman  for  supplies  of  corn  during  this  trying  period ; 
and  on  one  occasion  they  were  reduced  to  use  bran  as 
a  substitute,  which  required  three  laborers'  grinding  powers 
to  render  it  fit  for  baking  into  cakes.  Supplies  of  all 
kinds  were  so  irregular,  that  they  were  fain  to  put  up  with 
locusts  on  many  occasions  ;  and,  while  not  very  partial  to 
such  a  diet,  he  preferred  them  to  shrimps,  "  though  I 
would  avoid  both  if  possible." 

A  large  species  of  frog,  called  matlemetto  by  the  natives, 
when  procurable,  was  greatly  relished,  especially  by  his 
children.  During  the  continuance  of  dry  weather  this 
frog  remains  in  a  hole  which  it  excavates  for  itself  in  the 
ground,  out  of  which  it  emerges  during  rain,  assembling 
in  numbers  with  such  rapidity  that  they  are  vulgarly  sup- 
posed to  come  from  the  clouds  along  with  the  rain.  At 
night  they  set  up  a  croaking  in  their  holes,  which  assisted 
Livingstone  materially  in  hunting  for  them  when  the  cup- 
board was  innocent  of  more  preferable  flesh-meat. 


CHAPTER  m. 


THE  KALAHARI  DESERT.  DISCOVERS  LAKE  NGAMI.  VISITS 

SEBITUANE.  DEATH    OF    SEBITUANE.  DISCOVERS  THE 

ZAMBESI. 

On  the  1st  of  June,  1849,  Livingstone  started  on  his 
long-contemplated  journey,  to  settle  the  existence  of  Lake 
Ngami,  and  visit  the  numerous  tribes  occupying  the  inter- 
vening country.  He  was  accompanied  by  Messrs.  Murray 
and  Oswell,  two  enterprising  Englishmen,  who,  in  addition 
to  the  mere  love  of  adventure,  were  anxious  to  be  of 
service  in  extending  our  knowledge  of  the  geography  of 
Central  Africa.  Just  before  starting,  a  number  of  people 
from  the  lake  district  came  to  Kolobeng  with  an  invitation 
from  their  chief,  Lechulatebe,  to  Livingstone  to  visit  him. 
These  gave  so  glowing  an  account  of  the  wealth  of  the 
district  near  the  lake  in  ivory  and  skins,  that  the  Bakwain 
guides  were  as  eager  to  proceed  as  the  strangers  were. 

The  Kalahari  desert,  which  lay  between  the  travellers 
and  the  goal  of  their  hopes,  covers  a  space  of  country 
extending  from  the  Orange  River  in  the  south,  latitude 
29°,  to  Lake  Ngami  in  the  north,  and  from  about  24°  east 
longitude,  to  near  the  west  coast.  It  is  not,  strictly 
speaking,  a  desert,  as  it  is  covered  with  coarse  grass,  and 
several  kinds  of  creeping  plants,  with  here  and  there 
clumps  of  wood,  and  patches  of  bushes.  It  is  intersected 
by  dry  water-courses,  which  rarely  contain  any  water, 
although  at  no  distant  period  they  were  the  channels  by 

32 


THE  KALAHARI  DESERT.  33 

/ 

which  the  superabundant  waters  caused  by  the  rains  far 
ther  north  found  their  way  to  some  parent  stream,  fertil- 
izing the  country  in  their  passage.  But  for  the  number 
of  bulbous  plants  which  are  edible,  human  life  could  not 
be  sustained  in  this  now  arid  region.  The  more  promi- 
nent of  these  are  a  scarlet-colored  cucumber ;  the  leroshua, 
a  small  plant  with  long,  narrow  leaves,  and  a  stalk  no 
thicker  than  the  stem  of  a  tobacco-pipe,  springing  from  a 
fmer  from  four  to  six  inches  in  diameter,  which,  "  when 
the  rind  is  removed,  we  found  to  be  a  mass  of  cellular 
tissue,  filled  with  a  fluid  much  like  that  of  a  young  tur- 
nip." The  mokuri  is  a  creeping  plant,  to  which  are 
attached  several  tubers  as  large  as  a  man's  head.  The 
watermelon  is  the  most  important  and  abundant  of  these 
edible  plants,  vast  tracts  being  literally  covered  with  it  in 
seasons  when  the  rain-fall  has  been  larger  than  ordinal . 

Animals  of  various  kinds  abound  in  seasons  of  plenty, 
and  are  at  all  times  to  be  met  with  in  considerable  num- 
bers. The  elephant,  the  rhinoceros,  the  giraffe,  the 
eland,  the  gnu,  and  many  other  varieties  of  antelopes, 
associate  together  in  herds,  and  are  preyed  upon  by  lions, 
hyenas,  jackals,  and  leopards.  Smaller  varieties  of 
felines,  snakes  (poisonous  and  non-poisonous) ,  are  plenti- 
ful, and  feed  on  the  various  rodents  which  are  numerous 
in  all  dry  districts  in  Central  Africa.  Ants,  and  several 
varieties  of  ant-eaters,  abound.  A  large  caterpillar, 
which,  feeds  during  the  night  on  the  leaves  of  a  kind  of 
acacia-tree  called  mivato,  and  buries  itself  in  the  sand 
during  the  day,  is  dug  for  by  the  natives,  and  roasted 
and  eaten.  But  for  the  want  of  water,  the  passage  of  this 
vast  tract  of  country  would  be  comparatively  easy  ;  but,  as 
days  frequently  passed  without  so  much  as  a  single  drop 
being  found,  the  privations  of  Livingstone  and  his  com 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


pardons,  and  the  oxen  which  drew  their  wagons,  were 
severe  in  the  extreme.  No  white  man  had  ever  succeeded 
in  crossing  it  before ;  but  the  resolute  men  who  now 
attempted  it  were  not  to  be  daunted  by  difficult}'. 

Tribes  of  Bushmen,  whom  Livingstone  imagines  to  be 
the  aborigines  of  South  Africa,  inhabit  the  desert ;  and  a 
tribe  of  Bechuanas,  called  Bakalahari,  who  had  been 
driven  into  the  desert  by  the  more  powerful  tribes  of 
their  own  nation,  live  in  the  desert,  and  enjoy  that  liberty 
which  was  denied  them  in  more  favorable  circumstances. 
The  Bushmen  are  nomadic  in  their  habits,  never  culti- 
vating the  soil,  but  following  the  herds  of  game  from  place 
to  place.  Their  only  domestic  animal  is  a  breed  of 
wretched  dogs,  which  assist  them  in  hunting. 

The  Bakalahari  cultivate  the  scanty  and  inhospitable 
soil,  and  grow  melons  and  other  tuberous  plants,  and 
breed  goats  and  other  domestic  animals.  They  settle  at 
a  distance  from  water,  which  diminishes  the  chance  of 
visits  from  unfriendly  Bechuanas.  The  water  is  carried  by 
their  women  from  a  distant  well  or  spring,  and  is  stored 
ap  in  the  shells  of  the  eggs  of  the  ostrich,  and  buried  in 
the  earth.  The  Bakalahari  and  the  Bushmen  hunt  the 
various  wild  animals  for  their  skins,  which  they  exchange 
with  the  tribes  to  the  eastward  for  tobacco  and  other 
luxuries,  spears,  knives,  dogs,  &c.  Some  idea  of  the 
extent  of  the  business  done,  and  the  abundance  of  ani- 
mals in  the  desert,  may  be  formed  from  the  fact  that 
twenty  thousand  skins  were  purchased  by  the  Bechuanas 
during  Livingstone's  stay  in  their  country  ;  and  these  were 
principally  those  of  the  felidce.  The  Bakalahari  are  mild 
and  gentle  in  their  habits,  and  are  frequently  tyrannized 
over  by  the  powerful  tribes  of  the  Bechuanas  with  whom 
Ihey  deal.     The  Bushmen,  although  mostly  inferior  to 


THE  KALAHARI  DESERT. 


35 


them  in  every  way,  are  treated  with  more  respect,  their 
ready  use  of  the  bow  and  the  poisoned  arrow  securing 
them  from  pillage  and  annoyance. 

Water,  being  the  scarcest  and  most  valuable  com- 
modity in  the  country,  is  carefully  hidden,  to  preserve  it 
from  any  wandering  band  who  might  take  it  by  force. 
Livingstone's  method  of  conciliating  them,  and  gaining 
their  good  ODinion,  was  by  sitting  down  quietly,  and  talk- 
ing to  them  in  a  friendly  way,  until  the  precious  fluid, 
which  no  amount  of  domineering  or  threatening  could 
have  brought  forth,  was  produced. 

The  progress  of  the  party  was  necessarily  slow,  as  they 
could  only  march  in  the  mornings  and  evenings,  and  the 
wheels  of  the  wagons,  in  many  places,  sank  deep  into  the 
loose  sand.  In  some  places  the  heat  was  so  great  that 
the  grass  crumbled  to  dust  in  the  hand.  Hours  and  days 
of  toilsome  journeyings  were  sometimes  rewarded  b}^  the 
arrival  at  a  spring,  where  the  abundant  water  fertilized  a 
small  tract  around,  in  which  the  grass  flourished  rank  and 
green,  affording  a  welcome  meal  to  the  horses  and  oxen 
after  they  had  slaked  their  burning  thirst  at  the  spring ; 
although  often,  for  many  hours,  the  eyes  of  the  party  were 
not  gladdened  by  the  sight  of  such  an  oasis ;  their  hope 
almost  died  within  them ;  and  men  and  cattle  staggered 
on  mechanically,  silent,  and  all  but  broken  in  spirit. 
After  being  refreshed,  the  three  travellers  would  enjoy  a 
few  hours'  hunting  at  the  game  which  was  always  abun- 
dant at  such  places,  and  start  with  renewed  vigor  and 
high  hopes  as  to  the  accomplishment  of  their  purpose,  in 
striking  contrast  to  the  despair  and  dread  which  I  ad  been 
their  experience  only  a  few  hours  previous. 

Sekomi,  a  powerful  chief,  who  had  no  wish  to  see  the 
white  men  pass  his  territory,  and  open  out  a  marke* 


36  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

direct,  in  ivory  and  skins,  with  the  tribes  of  the  interior, 
tried  hard  to  dissuade  the  travellers  from  proceeding 
farther  on  their  journey ;  but  the  fearless  men  he  had  to 
deal  with  were  not  to  be  turned  aside  from  their  purpose. 

The  travellers  came  upon  several  great  tracts  of  salt- 
pans which  lay  glittering  in  the  sun,  showing  so  like 
lakes,  that,  on  sighting  the  first  one,  Mr.  Oswell  threw  his 
hat  up  into  the  air  at  the  sight,  "  and  shouted  an  '  Huzza,' 
which  made  the  Bakwains  think  him  mad.  I  was  a  little 
behind,  and  was  as  completely  deceived  by  it  as  he  ;  but, 
as  we  had  agreed  to  allow  each  other  to  behold  the  lake 
at  the  same  instant,  I  felt  a  little  chagrined  that  he  had 
unintentionally  got  the  first  glance.  We  had  no  idea 
that  the  long-looked-for  lake  was  still  more  than  three 
hundred  miles  distant."  These  mirages  were  so  perfect 
that  even  the  Hottentots,  the  horses,  and  the  dogs,  ran 
towards  them  to  slake  their  burning  thirst. 

After  reaching  the  River  Zouga,  their  farther  progress 
was  easy,  as  they  had  only  to  follow  its  course  to  find  the 
object  of  their  search,  into  which  it  poured  its  waters. 
Sebituane  had  given  orders  to  the  tribes  on  the  banks 
of  the  river  to  assist  the  travellers  in  every  way,  —  an 
injunction  which  did  not  appear  to  be  needed  to  insure 
them  kindly  treatment  at  the  hands  of  the  Bayeiye,  as 
they  were  called.  On  inquiring  from  whence  a  large 
river  which  flows  into  the  Zouga  from  the  north  came, 
Livingstone  was  told  that  it  came  6 '  from  a  country  full 
of  rivers,  —  so  many  that  no  one  can  tell  their  number." 
This  was  the  first  confirmation  of  the  reports  he  had  pre- 
viously received  from  travelled  Bakwains,  and  satisfied 
him  that  Central  Africa  was  not  a  u  large  sandy  plateau," 
but  a  land  teeming  with  life,  and  traversed  by  watery 
highways ;  along  which  Christianity  and  commerce,  and 


J 

THE  KALAHARI  DESERT.  37 

the  arts  of  peace,  would  in  the  future  be  conveyed  tc  vast 
regions  never  as  yet  visited  by  civilized  man.  From  that 
moment  the  desire  to  penetrate  into  that  unknown  region 
became  more  firmly  rooted  in  his  mind.  His  enthusiastic 
hopes  found  vent  in  his  letters  to  England,  to  his  friends 
i  nd  correspondents. 

On  the  1st  of  August,  1849,  Livingstone  and  his  com- 
panions went  down  to  the  shore  of  Lake  Ngami ;  and  the 
existence  of  that  fine  sheet  of  water  was  established.  It 
is  almost  a  hundred  miles  in  circumference,  and  at  one 
time  must  have  been  of  far  greater  extent ;  and  it  was 
found  to  be  about  two  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  sea,  from  which  it  is  eight  hundred  miles  distant. 
Finding  it  impossible,  from  the  unfriendliness  of  Lechu- 
latebe,  chief  of  the  Batauana  tribe,  -to  visit  Sebituane,  as 
he  had  intended,  the  travellers  passed  up  the  course  of 
the  Zouga ;  the  banks  of  which  they  found  to  be  plenti- 
fully covered  with  vegetation  and  splendid  trees,  some  of 
them  bearing  edible  fruits.  Wild  indigo  and  two  kinds 
of  cotton  they  found  to  be  abundant.  The  natives  make 
cloth  of  the  latter,  which  they  dye  with  the  indigo.  Ele- 
phants, hippopotami,  zebras,  giraffes,  and  several  varieties 
of  antelopes,  were  found  in  great  abundance.  A  species 
of  the  latter,  which  is  never  found  at  any  distance  from 
watery  or  marshy  ground,  hitherto  unknown  to  naturalists, 
was  met  with  in  considerable  numbers.  Several  varieties  of 
fish  abound  in  the  river ;  which  are  caught  by  the  natives 
in  nets,  or  killed  with  spears.  Some  of  these  attain  to  a 
great  size,  weighing  as  much  as  a  hundred  weight. 

The  second  journey  to  Lake  Ngami  was  undertaken  in 
April,  1850,  with  the  view  of  pushing  up  the  Tamunakle 
a  tributary  of  the  Zouga,  to  visit  Sebituane.  Sechele 
Mrs.  Livingstone,  and  her  three  children,  accompanied  tly 

4 


38 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


intrepid  traveller  on  this  journey.  Just  as  he  had 
arranged  with  Lechulatebe  to  furnish  the  necessary 
guides,  and  to  undertake  the  protection  of  Mrs.  Living- 
stone and  the  children  during  his  absence,  the  latter  were 
seized  with  fever.  As  several  of  their  attendants  were 
seized  at  the  same  time,  the  attempt  was  given  up  as 
hopeless  at  this  time  ;  and  the  party,  after  recruiting  in 
the  pure  air  of  the  desert,  returned  to  Kolobeng. 

On  the  occasion  of  the  third  and  successful  journey, 
undertaken  with  the  view  of  meeting  Sebituane,  his  wife 
and  children  accompanied  him  as  before.  Shobo,  a  Bash- 
man,  undertook  to  be  their  guide  ;  but,  losing  his  way,  he 
lost  heart,  and  refused  to  proceed,  finally  disappearing 
altogether.  Driving  on  at  random,  the  travellers,  know- 
ing that  a  stream  was  near  by  the  number  of  birds  they 
saw,  and  the  fresh  spoor  of  the  rhinoceros,  unyoked  the 
oxen ;  and  the}',  knowing  the  signs,  pushed  forward  until 
they  came  to  the  Matabe,  a  tributary  of  the  Tamunakle. 
Before  reaching  the  stream,  the  whole  party  suffered 
greatly  from  the  want  of  water  ;  and  it  almost  seemed  as 
if  his  children  were  doomed  to  perish  before  his  eyes. 
This  was  all  the  more  hard  to  bear,  as  a  supply  of  water 
had  been  wasted  by  one  of  the  servants.  His  wife 
looked  at  him,  —  despair  at  the  prospect  of  losing  her 
children  in  her  eyes,  — but  spoke  no  word  of  blame.  Here 
the  travellers  made  the  acquaintance  of  that  terrible 
insect,  the  tsetse,  whose  bite  is  so  fatal  to  cattle  and 
horses.  It  is  not  much  larger  than  the  common  house-fly, 
and  is  of  a  brown  color,  with  three  or  four  bars  of  yellow 
in  the  abdomen.  Its  bite  is  fatal  to  the  horse,  the  ox, 
and  the  dog.  Within  a  few  clays  the  eyes  and  nose  of 
the  bitten  animal  begin  to  run,  and  a  swelling  appears 
under  the  jaws,  and  sometimes  on  the  belly.  Emaciation 


J 

VISITS  SEBITUANE.  59 

sets  in ;  and  at  the  end  of  three  months,  when  the  poor 
beast  is  only  a  mass  of  skin  and  bone,  purging  com- 
mences, and  it  dies  of  sheer  exhaustion.  Man,  and  the 
wild  animals  which  abound  in  the  district,  the  goat,  the 
mule,  and  the  ass,  enjoy  a  perfect  immunity  from  its 
bite. 

On  the  banks  of  the  Chobe  the  travellers  came  across  a 
number  of  Makololo  men ;  and  learning  from  them  that 
their  chief,  Sebituane,  was  absent  twenty  miles  down  the 
River  Chobe,  Mr.  Oswell  and  Livingstone  proceeded  in 
canoes  to  visit  him.  He  had  marched  some  two  hundred 
miles  to  welcome  the  white  men  into  his  country.  On 
hearing  of  the  difficulties  they  had  encountered  in  their 
endeavors  to  reach  him,  he  expressed  his  satisfaction  at 
their  having  at  last  succeeded,  and  added,  "  Your  cattle 
are  all  bitten  by  the  tsetse,  and  will  certainly  die.  But 
never  mind :  I  have  oxen,  and  will  give  you  as  many  as 
you  need." 

In  their  ignorance,  they  thought  little  of  this  ;  but  the 
death  of  forty  of  their  oxen,  although  not  severely  bitten, 
too  surely  attested  his  better  knowledge. 

The  great  chief  Livingstone  had  so  long  desired  to  see 
was  a  tall,  wiry  man,  with  a  deep  olive  complexion.  He 
belonged  originally  to  the  south  of  Kuruman,  where  his 
warlike  and  undaunted  bearing  (for  he  was  not  born  a 
chief)  procured  him  a  small  following  of  bold  men,  who 
retreated  before  the  cruel  raid  of  the  Girquas  in  1824. 

The  Bakwains,  and  others  of  the  Bechuanas,  made  war 
upon  him,  and  drove  him  to  desperate  shifts ;  but  his 
courage  and  genius  stood  him  in  good  stead  through  in- 
numerable difficulties ;  and,  forcing  his  way  through  the 
desert  of  Kalahari,  he  maintained,  for  a  long  period,  a  des- 
perate struggle  with  the  Matabele,  who  were  then  led  by 


40 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


a  chief  called  Mosilikatlye,  a  warrior  almost  as  renowned 
as  himself,  for  the  possession  of  the  country  between 
the  Zouga  and  Zambesi.  His  frank  and  manly  bearing, 
and  his  kindness  and  benevolence  to  his  people,  and  the 
strangers  who  trusted  to  his  hospitality,  secured  him  the 
affections  of  his  own  people,  and  of  many  of  the  tribes 
which  he  conquered. 

After  he  had  subdued  all  the  tribes  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Lake  Ngami,  his  strong  desire  to  open  up  communi- 
cations with  the  white  men  led  him  to  the  country  of  the 
Zambesi,  fighting  and  conquering  every  tribe  in  his  line 
of  march.  No  wonder  he  was  adored  by  all  who  came  in 
contact  with  him.  Livingstone  tells  us  that,  "when  a 
party  of  poor  men  came  to  his  town  to  sell  their  hoes  or 
skins,  no  matter  how  ungainly  they  might  be,  he  soon 
knew  them  all.  A  company  of  these  indigent  strangers, 
sitting  far  apart  from  the  Makololo  around  the  chief, 
would  be  surprised  to  see  him  come  alone  to  them,  and, 
sitting  down,  inquire  if  they  were  hungry.  He  would 
order  an  attendant  to  bring  meal,  milk,  and  honey  ;  and, 
mixing  them  in  their  sight,  in  order  to  remove  any  sus- 
picion from  their  minds,  make  them  feast,  perhaps  for 
the  first  time  in  their  lives,  in  a  lordly  dish.  Delighted 
beyond  measure  with  his  affability  and  liberality,  they 
felt  their  hearts  warm  towards  him,  and  gave  him  all  the 
information  in  their  power ;  and  as  he  never  allowed  a 
party  of  strangers  to  go  away  without  giving  every  one 
of  them,  servants  included,  a  present,  his  praises  were 
sounded  far  and  wide.  '  He  has  a  heart ;  he  is  wise ! ' 
were  the  usual  expressions  we  heard  before  we  saw 
him." 

He  was  much  gratified  at  the  confidence  reposed  in  him 
by  Livingstone,  in  leaving  his  wife  and  children  with  him, 


DEATH  OF  SEBITUANE. 


41 


and  promised  to  convey  liim  to  his  headquarters,  where 
they  might  locate  themselves.  But  this  was  not  to  be : 
these  great  men  but  met  to  part,  and  that  forever.  The 
intrepid  chief,  whose  liberal  notions  had  enabled  Living* 
stone  to  push  thus  far  into  the  interior  of  the  country, 
was  stricken  with  inflammation  of  the  lungs,  and  died 
after  a  few  days'  illness.  On  the  Sunday  afternoon  on 
which  ie  died,  Livingstone  visited  him,  taking  his  boy 
Roberl  with  him.  "  Come  near,"  he  said,  "  and  see  if  I 
am  any  longer  a  man :  I  am  done."  Arrived  but  recent- 
ly amongst  them,  the  great  missionary  must  have  felt  cut 
to  the  heart  that  he  dare  not  deal  as  he  would  have 
wished  with  him.  He  feared  to  attempt  to  arrest  his 
malady,  in  case  he  might  be  blamed  for  causing  his  death 
if  he  had  not  succeeded  in  curing  him.  He  could  only 
speak  of  the  hope  after  death,  and  commend  him  to  the 
care  of  God.  His  last  act  was  characteristic  of  the  unself- 
ish kindness  of  the  man.  Raising  himself  from  his  prone 
position,  he  called  a  servant,  and  said,  "  Take  Robert  to 
Maunku  [one  of  his  wives],  and  tell  her  to  give  him 
some  milk." 

The  death  of  Sebituane  was  a  severe  blow  to  Living- 
stone. Much  that  he  was  to  do  which  proved  difficult, 
notwithstanding  the  friendliness  of  his  successor  and  his 
people,  might  have  been  earlier  and  more  easily  accom- 
plished had  that  noble  and  enlightened  chief  lived  to 
second  his  efforts,  and  possibly  share  in  his  journey. 
u  He  was,"  Livingstone  says,  "  the  best  specimen  of  a 
native  chief  I  ever  met.  I  never  felt  so  much  grieved 
by  the  loss  of  a  black  man  before  ;  and  it  was  impossible 
not  to  follow  him,  in  thought,  into  the  world  of 
which  he  had  just  heard  before  he  was  called  away,  and 
to  realize  somewhat  of  the  feelings  of  those  who  pray  for 


42  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

the  dead.  The  deep,  dark  question  of  what  is  to  become 
of  such  as  he  must,  however,  be  left  where  we  find  it ; 
believing  that  assuredly  the  Judge  of  all  the  esirth  will 
do  right." 

According  to  his  wish,  Sebituane  was  succeeded  in  the 
chieftainship  by  a  daughter,  to  whom  Livingstone  and  his 
party  applied  for  leave  to  settle  and  travel  in  the  country ; 
which  was  granted.  In  company  with  Mr.  Oswell,  Liv- 
ingstone discovered  the  Zambesi  in  the  end  of  June,  1851, 
at  a  point  where  it  was  not  known  previously  to  exist. 
The  sight  of  that  noble  stream,  even  in  the  dry  season, 
flowing  majestically  eastward,  with  a  breadth  of  from 
three  to  six  hundred  yards,  must  have  filled  Livingstone's 
mind  with  the  hope  of  the  near  approach  of  the  time  when 
commerce  and  Christianity  would  flow  into  the  heart  of  the 
country  along  this  great  natural  highway. 

As  the  Makololo,  between  the  Chobe  and  the  Zambesi, 
live  on  the  low,  marshy  grounds  in  the  neighborhood  of 
these  rivers,  and  their  affluents,  as  a  protection  from  their 
numerous  enemies,  the  question  of  where  a  mission-station 
could  be  settled  was  a  serious  one.  The  healthy  regions 
were  defenceless,  and  not  to  be  thought  of  in  the  then 
state  of  the  country.  So  there  was  no  help  for  it  but  to 
move  south  once  more,  and,  after  shipping  his  family  for 
England,  return  to  complete  the  work  which  no  mere  per- 
sonal considerations  would  have  stopped  at  this  ji  tncture. 


/ 

( 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ATTACK   ON   KOLOBENG   BY  THE  BOERS. — STARTS   ON  HIS 
GREAT  JOURNEY. 

This,  the  longest  journey  he  had  yet  undertaken,  and 
during  which  for  many  months  his  safety  was  to  be  a 
matter  of  painful  speculation  to  his  friends,  and  the  thou- 
sands of  intelligent  men  and  women,  throughout  the  civil- 
ized world,  who  had  been  watching  the  doings  of  the 
intrepid  missionary,  extended  from  the  south  coast  to  St. 
Paul's  de  Loanda,  the  capital  of  Angola,  on  the  west 
coast ;  and  from  thence  across  the  continent  to  Killimane, 
in  Eastern  Africa.  The  preliminary  journey  to  the  north- 
west point  of  the  country  of  the  Makololo,  previously 
visited,  consisted  of  fifteen  hundred  miles,  which  was 
accomplished  in  a  wagon  drawn  by  oxen.  Before  reach- 
ing the  Orange  River,  he  encountered  a  vast  herd  of 
springboks.  They  came  from  the  Kalahari  desert,  and 
at  the  outset  might  number  from  forty  to  fifty  thousand. 
As  neither  scarcity  of  water  nor  grass  can  induce  this 
extraordinary  migration,  we  are  driven  to  believe  that 
they  are  led,  by  their  instincts,  to  make  their  way  into  a 
region  where  their  flesh  and  skins  are  valuable  to  mankind, 
to  leave  their  native  plains  to  prevent  an  undue  increase 
in  their  numbers,  because  animal  life  becomes  too  abun- 
dant :  as  if  by  common  consent,  thousands  of  animals  ex- 
patriate themselves,  and  go  to  regions  not  so  abundantly 
supplied.     One  thing  connected  with  these  periodical 

43 


44  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


migrations,  like  the  locusts,  lemmings,  &c,  they  nevel 
return. 

At  Kuruman,  Livingstone  was  delayed  for  a  fortnight 
by  the  breaking  of  a  wagon-wheel,  which  prevented  him 
from  being  present  with  Sechele  and  the  friendly  Bakwains 
at  Kolobeng,  when  the  long-threatened  attack  of  the 
Boers,  already  alluded  to,  was  carried  into  effect.  Previ- 
ous to  this,  Sechele  had  sent  his  children  to  Mr.  Moffat  to 
be  educated. 

The  news  of  the  attack  of  the  Boers  was  brought  by 
Masabele,  Sechele's  wife.  She  had  herself  been  hidden  in 
a  cleft  of  rock,  over  which  a  number  of  Boers  were  firing. 
Her  infant  began  to  cry;  and  terrified  lest  this  should 
attract  the  attention  of  the  men,  the  muzzles  of  whose 
guns  appeared  at  every  discharge  over  her  head,  she  took 
off  her  armlets  as  playthings  to  quiet  the  child.  She 
brought  Mr.  Moffat  a  letter,  which  tells  its  own  tale. 
Nearly  literally  translated,  it  is  as  follows  :  — 

"Friend  of  my  heart's  love,  and  of  all  the  confidence 
of  my  heart,  I  am  undone  by  the  Boers,  who  attacked  me, 
although  I  had  no  guilt  with  them.  They  demanded  that  I 
should  be  in  their  kingdom,  and  I  refused.  They  demanded 
that  I  should  prevent  the  English  and  Girquas  from  passing 
[northwards].  I  replied,  These  are  my  friends,  and  I 
can  prevent  no  one  [of  them].  They  came  on  Saturday ; 
and  I  besought  them  not  to  fight  on  Sunday,  and  they 
assented.  They  began  on  Monday  morning  at  twilight, 
and  fired  with  all  their  might,  and  burned  the  town  with 
fire,  and  scattered  us.  They  killed  sixty  of  my  people, 
and  captured  women  and  children  and  men ;  and  the 
mother  of  Baloriling  [a  former  wife  of  Sechele]  they  also 
took  prisoner.  They  took  all  the  cattle,  and  all  the  goods, 
of  the  Bakwains ;  and  the  house  of  Livingstone  they 


ATTACK  ON  KOLOBENG  BY  THE  B0EB8. 


45 


plundered,  taking  away  all  his  goods.  The  number  of 
wagons  they  had  was  eighty-five,  and  a  cannon;  and 
after  they  had  stolen  my  own  wagon,  and  that  of  Macale, 
then  the  number  of  their  wagons  (counting  the  cannon 
as  one)  was  eighty-eight.  All  the  goods  of  the  hunters 
[certain  English  gentlemen  hunting  and  exploring  in  the 
north]  were  burned  in  the  town  ;  and  of  the  Boers  were 
killed  twenty-eight.  Yes,  my  beloved  friend,  now  my 
wife  goes  to  see  the  children,  and  Robus  Hae  will  convey 
her  to  you. 

I  am 

Sechele,  The  son  of  MocJioasele." 

The  report  of  this  disaster  raised  such  a  panic  among 
the  Bechuanas,  that  he  could  engage  no  one  to  accompany 
him  from  any  of  the  neighboring  tribes.  At  last,  in  con- 
junction with  George  Heming,  a  man  of  color,  who  was 
on  his  way  to  the  Makololo  country,  with  the  view  of 
opening  up  a  trade  with  them,  half  a  dozen  servants  were 
procured.  "They  were,"  he  says,  "  the  worst  possible 
specimens  of  those  who  imbibe  the  vices,  without  the  vir- 
tues, of  Europeans  ;  but  we  had  no  choice,  and  were  glad 
to  get  away  on  any  terms." 

At  Motilo,  forty  miles  to  the  north,  the  travellers  met 
Sechele  on  his  way,  as  he  said,  to  submit  his  case  64  to  the 
Queen  of  England."  He  was  so  firmly  impressed  with  a 
belief  in  the  justice  of  Englishmen,  that  they  found  it 
impossible  to  dissuade  him  from  making  the  attempt.  On 
reaching  Bloemfontein,  he  found  the  English  army  just 
returned  from  a  battle  with  the  Besutos.  The  officers 
were  much  interested  in  Sechele,  invited  him  to  dinner, 
and  subscribed  a  handsome  sum  amongst  them  to  defray 
his  expenses.    He  proceeded  as  far  as  the  Cape ;  when, 


46 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


having  expended  all  his  means,  he  was  compelled  to  return 
to  his  own  country  without  accomplishing  his  object. 

If  any  thing  had  been  required  to  show  that  the  Dutch 
Boers  on  the  frontier  were  actuated  by  selfish  interests 
only,  the  fact  that  they  were  so  assured  of  their  ability  to 
chastise  the  Bakwains  for  receiving  Livingstone  and  other 
Englishmen,  permitted  them  to  wait  over  the  Sunday  be- 
fore attacking  them,  at  Sechele's  request. 

This  journey  was  not  altogether  in  vain,  as  on  his  return 
he  adopted  a  mode  of  punishment  he  had  seen  in  the  col- 
ony, —  the  making  criminals  work  on  the  public  roads,  — 
and  became  the  missionary  to  his  own  tribe.  So  popular 
did  he  become,  that,  within  a  very  short  period,  numbers 
of  the  tribes  formerly  living  under  the  Boers  attached 
themselves  to  him,  until  he  became  the  most  powerful 
chief  in  the  district. 

It  is  facts  like  these  which  enable  us  to  form  a  true  idea 
of  the  influence  of  the  teaching  of  a  noble-minded  and 
self-denying  man  like  Livingstone  among  the  tribes  of 
Central  Africa.  A  larger  fall  of  rain  than  ordinary 
having  taken  place,  the  travellers  found  little  difficulty  in 
crossing  the  hem  of  the  Kalahari  desert.  Watermelons, 
and  other  succulent  herbs,  were  abundant.  They  met  an 
English  traveller,  Mr.  J.  Macabe,  who  had  crossed  the 
desert  at  its  widest  part ;  his  cattle,  on  one  occasion,  sub- 
sisting on  the  watermelons  for  twent}7-one  days.  Macabe 
had,  previous  to  Livingstone's  discovery  of  Lake  Ngami, 
written  a  letter  in  one  of  the  Cape  papers,  recommending 
a  certain  route  as  likely  to  lead  to  it.  The  Transvaal 
Boers  fined  him  five  hundred  dollars  for  writing  about 
"  onze  velt"  our  country,  and  imprisoned  him  until  it 
was  paid.  Mr.  Macabe' s  comrade,  a  Mr.  Maher,  fell  a 
victim  to  the  hatred  engendered  by  the  Boers.    A  tribe 


STARTS  ON  HIS  GREAT  JOURNEY. 


47 


of  Barolongs,  having  taken  Mm  for  a  Boer,  shot  him  as  he 
approached  their  village.  When  informed  that  he  was  an 
Englishman,  their  regret  at  the  misadventure  was  extreme. 

On  his  way  to  the  north,  Livingstone  found  his  old 
friends  the  Bakwains  suffering  severely  from  the  destruc- 
tion of  their  property  and  the  plunder  of  their  cattle. 
Notwithstanding  that  Sechele  had  given  orders  that  no 
violence  was  to  be  offered  to  the  Boers  during  his  absence,' 
a  band  of  young  men  had  ventured  out  to  meet  a  party  of 
Boers  and,  as  the  latter  were  in  a  minority,  they  ran  off, 
leaving  their  wagons,  which  the  young  men  brought  in 
triumph  to  Letubamba,  the  headquarters  of  the  tribe. 
The  Boers  were  alarmed,  and  sent  four  of  their  number  to 
sue  for  peace ;  which  was  granted  on  their  returning 
Sechele's  three  children,  which  Schloz,  the  Boer  leader, 
had  apprehended  as  slaves.  One  of  them  had  three 
large  unbound  open  sores  on  its  body,  caused  by  falling 
into  the  fire.  This,  and  the  general  appearance  of  the 
poor  children,  spoke  eloquently  of  the  treatment  they  had 
received. 

At  Linyanti,  the  capital  of  the  Makololo,  the  travellers 
were  heartily  welcomed  by  Sekeletu,  the  son  of  Sebituane, 
who  had  succeeded  to  his  sister.  Mamoschisane  had 
found  it  impossible  to  carry  out  her  father's  wishes  ;  and 
this  could  hardly  be  wondered  at,  since  one  of  them  was 
that  she  should  have  no  husband,  but  use  the  men  of  the 
tribe,  or  any  number  of  them  she  chose,  just  as  he  him- 
self had  done  by  the  women.  But  these  men  had  other 
wires  ;  and  as  Livingstone  dryly  puts  it,  in  a  proverb  of 
the  country,  "  the  temper  of  women  cannot  be  gov- 
erned ; "  and  they  made  her  miserable  by  their  remarks. 
She  chose  one  man,  who  was  called  her  wife,  and  her  son 
the  child  of  Mamoschisane's  wife ;  but,  disliking  the 


48  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

arrangement,  after  her  father's  death  she  declared  she 
would  never  govern  the  Makololo.  Sekeletu,  who  was 
afraid  of  the  pretensions  of  Mpepe,  another  member  of 
the  family,  urged  her  to  continue  as  chief,  offering  to  re- 
main with  her,  and  support  her  authority  in  battle.  She 
wisely  persisted  in  her  determination  to  abdicate,  indicat- 
ing Sekeletu  as  her  successor.  "  I  have  been  a  chief 
only  because  my  father  wished  it.  I  always  would  have 
preferred  to  be  married,  and  have  a  family,  like  other 
women.  You,  Sekeletu,  must  be  chief,  and  build  up  your 
father's  house." 

Sekeletu  was  afraid  of  Mpepe,  whose  pretensions  were 
favored  by  the  Mambari  tribe,  and  the  half-caste  Portu- 
guese, who  carried  on  the  slave-trade  between  the  tribes 
in  the  interior  and  the  dealers  in  human  flesh  on  the 
coast.  All  their  hopes  of  being  able  to  carry  on  their 
trade  lay  in  the  success  of  his  rebellion.  Previous  to 
Livingstone's  arrival  at  Linyanti,  a  large  party  of  Mam- 
bari had  arrived  there ;  but,  on  the  receipt  of  intelligence 
that  Livingstone  was  approaching,  they  fled  so  precipi- 
tately as  not  even  to  take  leave  of  Sekeletu ;  a  marvel- 
lous evidence,  truly,  of  the  moral  influence  of  England, 
even  when  only  represented  by  one  resolute  man,  on 
savage  men  who  are  seldom  amenable  to  any  thing  save 
superior  force.  The  Mambari  retreated  to  the  north, 
where  several  half-caste  slave-traders,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  a  half-caste  Portuguese,  had  erected  a  stockade. 
Through  the  aid  of  the  fire-arms  of  the  slave-traders, 
Mpepe  hoped  to  be  able  to  make  himself  the  head  of  the 
Makololo ;  while  they,  in  the  event  of  his  being  victori- 
ous, expected  to  be  rewarded  by  the  captives  he  might 
make  in  the  course  of  the  struggle. 

Here  and  elsewhere  the  religious  services  were  held  in 


TREACHERY  OF  MPEPE.  49 

the  Kotla,  or  public  meeting-place,  under  the  trees  near 
the  chief  hut,  and  were  always  well  attended.  The  meet- 
ings were  called,  at  Mabotsa  and  Kolobeng,  by  the  chiefs 
herald.  As  many  as  seven  hundred  frequently  attended 
these  meetings.  At  Kolobeng,  Sechele's  wife  frequently 
came  in  after  service  had  begun,  as  if  to  draw  attention 
not  to  her  dress,  but  to  her  want  of  dress.  Sechele,  in 
great  displeasure,  would  send  her  out  again  to  put  on 
some  clothing.  As  she  retired,  she  pouted,  and  looked 
the  very  picture  of  feminine  annoyance.  If  a  woman 
found  that  another  woman  was  seated  upon  her  dress,  she 
would  give  her  a  shove  with  her  elbow,  which  the  other 
would  return  with  interest,  until  several  others  would  join 
in  the  fray ; .  the  men  swearing  at  them  all  to  enforce 
silence.  If  a  child  cried,  it  was  enough  to  set  a  great 
many  of  the  audience  into  a  fit  of  laughter :  it  seemed 
to  them  the  perfection  of  a  joke  for  a  squalling  child  to 
interrupt  the  grave  and  earnest  missionary. 

Mpepe,  determined  to  strike  the  first  blow,  had  armed 
himself  with  a  battle-axe,  avowing  his  intention  of  strik- 
ing Sekeletu'  down  on  the  occasion  of  their  first  interview  ; 
trusting  to  his  being  exalted  to  his  position  as  chief, 
during  the  panic  which  would  inevitably  take  possession 
of  the  Makololo  on  his  death.  At  Livingstone's  request, 
Sekeletu  accompanied  him  on  a  journey,  with  the  view  of 
ascending  the  river  they  had  discovered  in  1857 ;  and, 
when  they  had  got  about  sixty  miles  on  their  way,  they 
encountered  Mpepe.  At  their  first  interview,  Livingstone 
sat  between  them,  and  was  unconsciously  the  means  of 
saving  the  life  of  Sekeletu.  Some  of  Mpepe's  friends 
having  informed  Sekeletu  of  his  murderous  intentions,  he 
despatched  several  of  his  attendants  to  his  hut ;  who, 
seizing  him  by  the  arms,  led  him  about  a  mile  from  the 
6 


50  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

encampment,  where  they  speared  him.  This  summary 
settlement  of  a  grave  political  difficulty  thoroughly  estab- 
lished Sekeletu  in  his  position,  and  removed  what  could 
hardly  have  failed  to  become  a  serious  hinderance  to  the 
carrying-out  of  Livingstone's  cherished  schemes.  Mpepe's 
men  fled  to  the  Barotse,  a  tribe  living  in  the  district 
Livingstone  and  Sekeletu  were  on  their  way  to  visit ;  and 
they,  considering  it  unadvisable  to  go  there  during  the 
commotion  excited  by  that  occurrence,  returned  to  Lin- 
yanti  for  a  month,  when  they  again  set  out  for  the  pur- 
pose of  ascending  the  Leeambye  from  Sesheke.  They 
were  accompanied  by  a  large  number  of  attendants,  wh< 
are  thus  described  :  4  4  It  was  pleasant  to  look  back  along 
the  long- extended  line  of  our  attendants,  as  it  twisted 
and  bent  according  to  the  course  of  the  footpath,  or  in 
and  out  behind  the  mounds ;  the  ostrich-feathers  of  the 
men  waving  in  the  wind.  Some  had  the  white  ends  of 
ox-tails  on  their  heads,  hussar  fashion  ;  and  others,  great 
bunches  of  black  ostrich  feathers,  or  capes  made  of  lions' 
manes.  Some  wore  red  tunics,  or  various-colored  prints, 
which  the  chief  had  bought  from  Fleming ;  the  common 
men  carried  burdens  ;  the  gentlemen  walked  with  a  small 
club  of  rhinoceros-horn  in  their  hands,  and  had  servants 
to  carry  their  shields ;  while  the  machaka  (battle-axe 
men),  carried  their  own,  and  were  "liable  at  any  time 
to  be  sent  off  a  hundred  miles  on  an  errand,  and  expected 
to  run  all  the  way."  Sekeletu  was  closely  accompanied, 
in  marching,  by  his  own  mopato,  or  body-guard  of  young 
men  about  his  own  age,  who  were  selected  for  the  per- 
sonal attendance  and  defence  of  the  chief,  and  seated 
themselves  round  him  when  they  encamped. 

The  Makololo  were  rich  in  cattle,  and  the  chief  had 
numerous  cattle  stations  all  over  the  country.    Tn  jour- 


REACH  THE  LEE  AM  BYE. 


51 


neying,  as  on  this  occasion,  his  attendants  were  fed  by 
the  chief,  an  ox  or  two  being  selected  from  his  own  herds, 
if  there  were  any  in  the  neighborhood ;  if  not,  the  head 
man  of  the  nearest  village  presented  one  or  two  for  the 
purpose.  The  people  of  the  villages  presented  the  party, 
on  their  arrival,  with  draughts  of  the  beer  of  the  country, 
and  milk.  As  elands,  antelopes,  and  other  kinds  of 
game,  were  frequently  met  with  in  the  plains  between 
Linyanti  and  the  Leeambye,  they  never  wanted  for  food. 
The  party  struck  the  Leeambye  at  a  village  considerably 
above  Sesheke,  where  it  is  about  six  hundred  yards  broad. 
After  crossing  to  the  north  side  of  the  river,  several  days 
were  spent  in  collecting  canoes.  During  this  interval, 
Livingstone  took  the  opportunity  of  going  in  pursuit  of 
game  to  support  the  party,  and  to  examine  the  adjacent 
country.  The  country  is  flat,  diversified  with  small  tree- 
covered  mounds,  which  are  too  high  to  be  covered  by  the 
floods  during  the  rainy  season.  The  soil  on  the  flat  parts 
is  a  rich  loam ;  and  this,  and  the  abundant  floods  during 
the  rainy  season,  enable  the  natives  to  raise  large  supplies 
of  grain  and  ground-nuts.  Yast  numbers  of  a  small  ante- 
lope, about  eighteen  inches  high,  new  to  naturalists, 
named  the  tianyane,  are  found  on  these  plains,  together 
with  many  of  the  larger  antelopes,  including  a  new  or 
striped  variety  of  the  eland ;  buffaloes  and  zebras  were 
found  on  the  plains ;  so  that  there  was  no  difficulty  in  the 
way  of  providing  for  so  large  a  party. 

This  journey  was  undertaken  by  Livingstone  and 
Sekeletu  with  the  object  of  finding  a  healthy  spot  for 
establishing  the  headquarters  of  the  Makololo  within 
friendly  or  defensible  territory.  The  low-lying  and 
swampy  districts  they  had  been  compelled,  for  purposes  of 
safety  from  their  numerous  enemies,  to  occupy,  was  exer 


52  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


cising  a  fatal  influence  on  the  physique  and  the  increase 
of  the  tribe.  Fevers  were  common :  Livingstone  him- 
self had  suffered  severely  from  an  attack.  And  the  intelli- 
gent chief,  and  the  head  men  of  the  tribe,  were  wise 
enough  to  understand  the  value  of  the  counsel  of  their 
missionary  friend,  when  he  advised  the  removal  of  the 
bulk  of  the  tribe  to  a  more  elevated  and  healthy  locality. 
Such  a  position  had  to  be  sought  for  bej^ond  the  reach  of 
the  annual  inundations,  which,  for  a  period,  transformed 
the  course  of  the  river  for  miles  into  lakes  and  swamps  ; 
as  when  the  waters  subsided,  the  miasma  arising  from 
the  wet  soil  and  the  rotting  vegetation,  under  a  tropical 
sun,  made  the  district  a  hotbed  of  fever  and  dysentery. 
Coming  from  the  comparatively  cold  and  hilly  region  of 
the  south,  the  Makololo  suffered  more  severely  from  the 
effects  of  the  climate  than  the  various  tribes  of  Makalaka 
Sebituane  had  found  living  in  the  district,  and  made  sub- 
ject to  his  rale.  From  choice  they  lived  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  river ;  and  their  agriculture  is  entirely 
dependent  on  the  annual  floods.  They  cultivate  dura  (a 
kind  of  grain),  maize,  beans,  ground-nuts,  pumpkins, 
watermelons,  and  cucumbers  ;  and  in  the  Barotse  valley, 
along  the  course  of  the  Leeambye,  the  sugar-cane,  sweer- 
potato,  &c,  are  added  to  the  agricultural  produce,  the 
fertility  of  the  soil  being  increased  by  rude  efforts  at  irri- 
gation. 

Having  collected  thirty-three  flat-bottomed  canoes, 
capable  of  conveying  one  hundred  and  sixty  men,  the 
imposing  flotilla,  rowed  by  Makalaka  men,  who  are  more 
skilful  watermen  than  the  Makololo,  moved  rapidly  up 
the  broad  waters  of  the  Leeambye ;  the  great  explorer 
enjoying  an  exhilaration  of  spirits  natural  to  an  adven- 
turous man,  who,  first  of  all  his  countrymen,  passed  up 


ON  THE  LEE  AM  BYE. 


53 


this  noble  stream,  and  who  saw  clearly  the  great  and 
important  part  which  a  magnificent  natural  highway  like 
this  would  play  in  the  civilizing  of  the  numerous  tribes  of 
Central  Africa.  At  many  places  the  river  is  more  than  a 
mile  broad,  its  surface  broken  by  islands,  small  and 
large.  The  islands  and  the  banks  are  thickly  covered 
with  trees,  among  which  are  the  date-palm,  with  its 
gracefully  curved  fronds,  and  the  lofty  palmyra,  with  its 
feathery  mass  of  foliage  towering  over  all.  Elephants, 
and  the  larger  species  of  game,  were  very  abundant ;  but 
in  consequence  of  the  presence  of  that  destructive  insect, 
the  tsetse,  the  villagers  on  the  banks  had  no  domestic 
cattle.  The  inhabitants  of  the  valley  of  the  river  here 
are  known  as  Bairyete,  and  are,  from  their  skill  in  making 
various  utensils,  the  handicraftsmen  of  the  neighboring 
tribes.  They  make  neat  wooden  vessels  with  lids, 
wooden  bowls,  and,  after  Livingstone  had  introduced  the 
idea  of  sitting  on  stools,  they  exercised  their  taste  and 
ingenuity  on  the  construction  of  these  in  a  variety  of 
shapes.  Wicker  baskets  made  of  the  split  roots  of  trees, 
and  articles  of  domestic  and  agricultural  utility  in  pottery 
and  iron,  were  also  among  the  products  of  their  skill. 
Iron  ore  is  dug  out  of  the  earth,  and  smelted,  and  fash- 
ioned into  rude  hoes,  almost  the  only  implement  of  hus- 
bandry known  at  this  period. 

The  Banyete  never  appear  to  have  been  a  warlike 
people.  War  is  either  caused  by  slavery,  or  the  posses- 
sion of  cattle  ;  and  as  the  slave-dealers  had  never  reached 
their  peaceful  habitations,  and  the  tsetse  rendered  the 
possession  of  cattle  impossible,  they  had  lived  secure 
from  the  ambitious  and  selfish  designs  of  more  powerful 
and  warlike  tribes.  Tribute  was  regularly  paid  to 
Sekeletu  in  the  simple  articles  constructed  by  their  indus- 
5* 


54  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


trial  skill ;  and,  in  exchange,  they  lived  contented  and 
happy  under  his  protection.  When  the  river  is  low,  a 
series  of  rapids  make  navigation  difficult  for  considerable 
distances ;  but  they  met  with  no  serious  obstacle  until 
they  reached  the  falls  of  Gonye  ;  where  the  river,  narrow- 
ing into  a  space  of  seventy  or  eighty  yards  wide,  falls  a 
distance  of  thirty  feet.  There  they  had  to  carry  the 
canoes  for  about  a  mile  over  land. 

At  this  place  Livingstone  heard  of  a  tradition  of  a 
man  who  took  advantage  of  the  falls  to  lead  a  portion  of 
the  river  over  the  level  country  below  for  the  purposes  of 
irrigation.  The  garden  was  pointed  out ;  and,  though  neg- 
lected for  generations,  they  dug  up  an  inferior  kind  of 
potato,  which  they  found  to  be  bitter  and  waxy.  If 
properly  cultivated  and  irrigated,  Livingstone  appears  to 
think  that  the  valleys  through  which  the  great  rivers  and 
their  affluents  flow  might  be  made  as  productive  as  the 
valley  of  the  Nile  ;  to  which  that  of  the  Zambesi  bears  a 
striking  resemblance.  The  intelligent  and  generally 
peaceable  character  of  the  tribes  visited  by  Livingstone 
in  Central  Africa  is  a  guaranty,  that  with  the  introduc- 
tion of  agricultural  implements,  and  the  humanizing 
influence  of  contact  with  civilization,  such  a  desirable 
state  of  matters  may  speedily  follow  the  opening-up  of 
the  country  for  purposes  of  legitimate  trade  with  Euro- 
peans. 

The  valley  of  the  Barotse,  a  district  inhabited  by  a 
people  of  that  name,  subject  to  the  Makololo,  which 
extends  west  to  the  junction  of  the  Leeambye  and  Leeba, 
is  about  one  hundred  miles  in  length,  and  from  ten  to 
thirty  miles  in  width,  with  the  Leeambye  winding  down 
the  middle.  The  whole  of  this  valley  is  inundated  not 
by  local  rain-fall,  but  by  the  flooding  of  the  river,  just  as 


REACH  NALIELE. 


\ 

55 


the  Nile  valley  is  flooded  by  the  overflow  of  that  river. 
The  villages  of  the  Barotse  are  built  on  mounds,  which 
are  at  a  sufficient  elevation  to  be  secure  from  the  annual 
floods.  These  mounds  are,  for  the  most  part,  artificial, 
and  are  said  to  have  been  raised  by  a  famous  chief  of  the 
Barotse,  named  Santuru,  who  planted  them  with  trees ; 
which  gave  a  grateful  shade,  besides  adding  to  the  beauty 
of  the  scenery.  As  this  valley  is  free  from  the  dreaded 
tsetse,  the  Barotse  are  rich  in  cattle,  which  find  abundant 
food  in  the  rich  pasturage.  At  the  approach  of  the  floods 
they  retire  to  the  high  grounds,  where  food  is  less  abun- 
dant, and  fall  off  in  condition.  Their  return,  on  the  sub- 
sidence of  the  river,  is  a  season  of  rejoicing  among  the 
people,  because  the  season  of  plenty  has  returned  once 
more. 

In  one  of  the  Barotse  towns,  Mpepe' s  father  lived ;  and 
as  he  and  another  man  had  counselled  Mamochisane  to 
kill  Sekeletu,  and  marry  Mpepe,  they  were  led  forth,  and 
tossed  into  the  river.  On  Livingstone  remonstrating 
against  this  off-hand  shedding  of  human  blood,  Nokuane, 
who  had  been  one  of  the  executioners  on  this  occasion,  as 
well  as  in  the  execution  of  Mpepe,  excused  the  act  by 
saying,  "  You  see  we  are  still  Boers:  we  are  not  yet 
taught ; "  surety  a  terrible  sarcasm,  coming  from  a  sav- 
age, on  the  doings  of  civilized  men.  At  Naliele,  the  cap- 
ital of  the  Barotse,  which  is  built  on  a  mound  raised  by 
Santuru,  the  party  were  visited  by  some  of  the  Mambari. 
The  pure  Mambari  are  as  black  as  the  Barotse  ;  but  many 
of  them  were  half-caste  Portuguese,  and  could  read  and 
write.  The  head  of  the  party  Livingstone  believed  to  be 
a  true  Portuguese.  Mpepe  had  given  them  full  permis- 
sion to  trade  in  his  district ;  and  they  had  not  been  slow 
to  take  advantage  of  the  permission  in  exchanging  the 


56 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


commodities  they  brought  with  them  for  slaves,  assuring 
the  people  they  were  only  to  be  employed  by  them  to  cul- 
tivate the  land,  and  that  they  would  take  care  of  them  as 
their  own  children.  The  notion  that  they  were  taken,  and 
sold  across  the  sea,  was  new  to  these  simple  people  ;  and 
the  lesson  taught  by  Livingstone  could  not  fail  to  be 
useful  in  circumscribing  the  abominable  traffic  among 
them  and  the  other  tribes  he  visited  on  his  way  to  the 
west  coast.  Santuru  was  once  visited  by  the  Mambari ; 
but  he  and  his  head  men  refused  them  permission  to  buy 
any  of  his  people.  The  Makololo,  in  expelling  them  from 
the  country,  quote  this  as  a  precedent. 

Finding  that  Katonga,  as  the  high  ground  beyond  Na- 
liele  was  called,  was  extensive,  and  free  from  the  annual 
inundations,  Livingstone  visited  it ;  but  although  exceed- 
ingly beautiful,  and  abounding  in  gardens  of  great  fertility, 
cultivated  with  much  care  by  the  Barotse,  it  was  found  to 
be  equally  unhealthy  with  the  low  ground.  The  view 
from  Katonga  is  thus  described :  4 '  We  could  see  the 
great  river  glancing  out  at  several  points,  and  fine,  large 
herds  of  cattle  quietly  grazing  on  the  green,  succulent 
herbage,  among  numbers  of  cattle-stations  and  villages 
which  are  dotted  over  the  landscape.  Leches  (a  kind  of 
antelope)  in  hundreds  fed  securely  beside  them  ;  for  they 
have  learned  only  to  keep  out  of  bow-shot,  or  two  hun- 
dred yards.  When  guns  come  into  a  country,  the  ani- 
mals soon  learn  their  longer  range,  and  begin  to  run  at  a 
distance  of  .five  hundred  yards."  As  the  current  of  the 
river  was  here  about  four  miles  and  a  half  an  hour,  a 
sure  sign  of  a  rapidly  increasing  rise  in  the  country, 
Livingstone  determined  on  pushing  still  farther  up  the 
stream,  in  search  of  a  healthy  location  which  he  might 
make  his  headquarters. 


RETURN  TO  LTNYANTL 


57 


Leaving  Sekeletu  at  Naliele,  lie  proceeded  up  stream ; 
the  chief  having  presented  him  with  men  and  rowers,  and 
also  a  herald  to  announce  his  arrival  at  the  villages  with 
proper  effect,  by  shouting  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  "  '  Here 
comes  the  lord,  the  great  lion,'  the  latter  phrase  being 
tan  e  tona ;  which  in  his  imperfect  way  of  pronunciation 
became  .saw  e  tona,  and  so  like  the  great  sow,  that  I 
could  not  have  the  honor  with  becoming  gravity,  and  had 
to  entreat  him,  much  to  the  annoyance  of  my  party,  to 
be  silent.''  At  all  the  villages,  the  party  met  with  a 
hearty  welcome,  as  being  to  them  messengers  of  peace, 
which  they  term  "  sleep."  After  pushing  his  way  to  the 
junction  of  the  Leeba  with  the  Leeambye,  and  failing  to 
find  a  suitable  spot  for  a  mission  settlement,  the  party 
descended  to  Naliele,  but  not  before  Livingstone  had 
made  a  guess  that  there  lay  the  high  road  to  the  west 
coast,  and  that  its  head  waters  must  be  within  a  hundred 
and  twent}^  miles  of  the  Coanza,  which  would  lead  them 
down  to  the  coast  near  Loanda.  The  Coanza,  as  he 
afterwards  found,  does  not  come  from  anywhere  near  the 
route  to  Loanda. 

The  following  extract  from  ' c  The  Missionary  Travels  " 
will  give  some  idea  of  the  abundance  of  large  game  in 
this  region,  and  their  want  of  fear  of  man  :  "  Eiglny-one 
buffaloes  defiled  in  slow  procession  before  our  fire  one 
evening,  within  gunshot;  and  herds  of  splendid  elands 
stood  by  day  without  fear  at  two  hundred  yards  distance. 
The}T  were  all  of  the  striped  variety,  and  with  their  fore- 
arm markings,  large  dewlaps,  and  sleek  skins,  were  a 
beautiful  sight  to  see.  The  lions  here  roar  much  more 
than  in  the  country  farther  south.  One  evening  we  had 
a  good  opportunity  of  hearing  the  utmost  exertions  the 
animal  can  make  in  that  line.    We  had  made  our  beds 


58  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


on  a  large  sandbank,  and  could  be  easily  seen  from  all 
sides.  A  lion  on  the  opposite  shore  amused  himself  for 
hours  by  roaring  as  loudly  as  he  could ;  putting,  as  is 
usual  in  such  cases,  his  mouth  near  the  ground,  to 
make  the  sound  reverberate.  .  .  .  "Wherever  the  game 
abounds,  these  animals  exist  in  proportionate  numbers. 
Here  they  were  frequently  seen  ;  and  two  of  the  largest  I 
ever  saw  seemed  about  as  tall  as  common  donkeys ;  but 
the  mane  made  their  bodies  appear  rather  larger." 

Coming  down  the  river  to  the  town  of  Ma  Sekeletu 
(the  mother  of  Sekeletu) ,  they  found  Sekeletu  with  his 
mother.  After  a  short  stay,  the  party  started  on  their 
vo}Tage  down  the  river,  and  reached  Linyanti  after  an 
absence  of  nine  weeks.  This  being  the  first  visit  paid  by 
Sekeletu  to  this  portion  of  his  dominions,  the  travellers 
were  received  with  the  utmost  enthusiasm  everywhere ; 
the  head  men  of  the  villages  presenting  him  with  more 
eatables  and  drinkables  than  even  his  numerous  followers 
could  devour,  notwithstanding  their  wonderful  powers  in 
that  way.  The  enthusiasm  of  the  people  usually  wound 
up  with  an  extraordinary  dance,  which  Livingstone  de- 
scribes :  "It  consists  of  the  men  standing,  nearly  naked, 
in  a  circle,  with  clubs  or  small  battle-axes  in  their  hands, 
and  each  roaring  at  the  loudest  pitch  of  his  voice,  while 
the}'  simultaneously  lift  one  leg,  stamp  heavily  twice  with 
it,  then  lift  the  other,  and  give  one  stamp  with  that ;  this 
is  the  only  movement  in  common.  The  arms  and  head 
are  thrown  about  also  in  every  direction ;  and  all  this 
time  the  roaring  is  kept  up  with  the  utmost  possible 
vigor.  The  continued  stamping  makes  a  cloud  of  dust 
around,  and  they  leave  a  deep  ring  in  the  ground  where 
the}'  have  stood.  If  the  scene  were  witnessed  in  a  luna- 
tic asylum,  it  would  be  nothing  out  of  the  way,  and  quite 


RETURN  TO  LINYANTL 


59 


appropriate,  even,  as  a  means  of  letting  off  the  excessive 
excitement  of  the  brain  ;  but  the  gray-headed  men  joined 
in  the  performance  with  as  much  zest  as  others  whose 
youth  might  be  an  excuse  for  making  the  perspiration 
stream  off  their  bodies  with  the  exertion.  .  .  .  The 
women  stand  by  clapping  their  hands  ;  and  occasionally 
one  advances  into  the  circle  composed  of  a  hundred  men, 
makes  a  few  movements,  and  then  retires." 

The  effect  the  experience  gained  in  this  journey  had 
upon  him,  and  the  reflections  induced  thereby,  are  indi- 
cated in  the  following  extract:  "I  had  been,"  he  says, 
"during  a  nine-weeks'  tour,  in  closer  contact  with  hea- 
thenism than  I  had  ever  been  before  ;  and  though  all,  in- 
cluding the  chief,  were  as  kind  and  attentive  to  me  as 
possible,  and  there  was  no  want  of  food,  yet  to  endure 
the  dancing,  roaring,  and  singing,  the  jesting,  anecdotes, 
grumbling,  quarrelling,  and  murdering,  of  these  children 
of  nature,  seemed  more  like  a  severe  penance  than  any 
thing  I  had  before  met  with  in  the  course  of  my  mission- 
ary duties.  I  took  thence  a  more  intense  disgust  at 
heathenism  than  I  had  before,  and  formed  a  greatly  ele- 
vated opinion  of  the  latent  effect  of  missions  in  the  south, 
among  tribes  which  are  reported  to  have  been  as  savage 
as  the  Makololo.  The  indirect  benefits,  which,  to  a  casual 
observer,  lie  beneath  the  surface,  and  are  inappreciable, 
in  reference  to  the  probable  wide  diffusion  of  Christianity, 
at  some  future  time,  are  worth  all  the  money  and  labor 
that  have  been  expended  to  produce  them." 


CHAPTEK  V. 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  DEPARTURE.  ASCENDS  THE  LEEAMBYE 

AND  THE  LEEBA.  ABUNDANCE  OF  ANIMAL  LIFE.  TWO 

FEMALE  CHIEFS.  VISITS  SHINTE. 

As  Sekeletu  and  the  head  men  of  the  Makololo  were  as 
alive  to  the  advantages  which  would  accrue  to  them  from 
the  opening-out  of  trade  with  the  west  coast  as  Living- 
stone was  for  these  and  higher  purposes  which  they  could 
not  comprehend,  every  assistance  was  rendered  which 
could  help  the  traveller  in  carrying  out  his  bold  and  dar- 
ing attempt  to  make  his  way  across  the  country.  A 
picJio,  or  conference,  of  the  head  men  of  the  tribe,  presided 
over  by  the  chief,  was  held  to  discuss  the  adventure,  and 
the  best  way  of  assisting  in  it.  One  of  the  old  men,  who 
was  famed  as  a  croaker,  said,  "  Where  is  he  taking  you  to  ? 
This  white  man  is  throwing  you  away.  Your  garments 
already  smell  of  blood."  This  foreboding  had  no  influ- 
ence, over  Sekeletu,  or  any  of  his  men:  they  were  too 
much  accustomed  to  hearing  his  prognostications  of  evil 
from  every  enterprise  ;  and  it  was  decided  that  a  band  of 
twenty-seven  picked  men,  principally  Barotse,  they  being 
best  acquainted  with  the  tribes  to  the  west,  should  accom- 
pany Livingstone,  as  the  contribution  of  the  chief  and  his 
people  towards  the  accomplishment  of  an  object  so  desir- 
able to  all. 

In  answer  to  the  question  whether,  u  In  the  event  of 
your  death,  wiU  not  the  white  people  blame  us  for  having 

60 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  DEPARTURE.  61 

allowed  you  to  go  away  into  an  unhealthy  and  unknown 
•country  of  enemies?"  he  replied  that  none  of  his  friends 
would  blame  them,  because  he  would  leave  a  book  with 
Sekeletu,  "  to  be  sent  to  Mr.  Moffat  in  case  I  did  not 
"return,  which  would  explain  to  him  all  that  had  happened 
until  the  time  of  my  departure."  This  book  was  a  vol- 
ume of  his  journal ;  and  months  afterwards,  when  the 
Makololo  were  despairing  of  ever  seeing  or  hearing  any 
thing  of  him  again,  it  was  delivered,  along  with  a  letter, 
by  Sekeletu  to  a  trader,  to  be  delivered  to  Mr.  Moffat. 
No  trace  of  this  journal  could  be  found  on  his  return ; 
which  was  a  matter  of  much  regret,  as  it  contained  val- 
uable notes  on  the  habits  of  wild  animals,  &c. 

The  following  illustrates  admirably  the  spirit  which 
animated  this  extraordinary  man  when  ready  to  start  on 
his  dangerous  enterprise :  4  4  The  prospect  of  passing 
away  from  this  fair  and  beautiful  world  thus  came  before 
me  in  a  pretty  plain,  matter-of-fact  form  ;  and  it  did  seem 
a  serious  thing  to  leave  wife  and  children,  to  break  up  all 
connection  with  earth,  and  enter  on  an  untried  state  of 
existence.  And  I  find  myself,  in  my  journal,  pondering 
over  that  fearful  migration  which  lands  us  in  eternit}^ ; 
wondering  whether  an  angel  will  soothe  the  fluttering  soul, 
sadly  flurried,  as  it  must  be,  on  entering  the  spirit- world  ; 
and  hoping  that  Jesus  might  speak  but  one  word  of  peace, 
for  that  would  establish  in  the  bosom  an  everlasting  calm. 
But  as  I  had  always  believed,  that,  if  we  serve  God  at  all, 
it  ought  to  be  done  in  a  manly  way,  I  wrote  to  my  broth- 
er, commending  our  little  girl  to  his  care,  as  I  was  deter- 
mined to  succeed  or  perish  in  the  attempt  to  open  up  this 
part  of  Africa.  The  Boers,  by  taking  possession  of  all 
my  goods,  had  saved  me  the  trouble  of  making  a  will  ; 
and  considering  the  light  heart  now  left  in  my  bosom. 

6 


62 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D 


and  some  faint  efforts  to  perform  the  duty  of  Christian 
forgiveness,  I  felt  that  it  was  better  to  be  the  plundered 
party  than  one  of  the  plunderers." 

Wisely  resolving  that  his  baggage  should  be  so  limited 
in  quantity  as  not  to  excite  the  cupidity  of  any  unfriendly 
tribe,  he  took  with  him  only  three  muskets,  a  rifle,  and  a 
double-barrelled  gun,  with  the  necessary  ammunition,  a 
few  biscuits,  several  pounds  of  tea  and  sugar,  and  about 
twenty  pounds  of  coffee,  a  beverage  greatly  relished  by 
the  natives.  Of  wearing-apparel,  independent  of  what 
they  wore,  a  small  tin  canister  was  filled  with  shirting, 
trousers,  and  shoes,  to  be  donned  when  the  party  should 
reach  the  neighborhood  of  civilization ;  and  another  sup- 
ply, in  a  bag,  was  for  use  during  the  journey. 

Another  tin  can  contained  a  stock  of  medicines.  A 
third  contained  his  books,  consisting  of  a  nautical  alma- 
nac, Thomson's  Logarithms,  and  a  Bible  ;  and  a  fourth 
box  contained  a  magic-lantern,  a  sextant  and  artificial 
horizon,  a  thermometer,  a  chronometer  watch  with  a  stop 
for  seconds,  and  a  small  but  powerful  telescope,  with  a 
stand  capable  of  being  screwed  to  a  tree ;  and  two  com- 
passes, one  of  them  for  the  pocket,  were  carried  apart. 
A  small  gypsy  tent  to  sleep  in,  a  blanket,  and  a  horse-rug, 
from  the  simplicity  of  the  other  impedimenta,  might  be 
termed  the  luxuries  of  the  baggage-roll.  As  the  country, 
so  far  as  explored  by  him,  abounded  in  game,  he  trusted 
to  his  good  rifle  and  double-barrelled  gun  for  furnishing 
the  bulk  of  the  food  required ;  but,  in  case  of  having  to 
pass  through  a  country  where  these  were  not  plentiful, 
twenty  pounds  of  beads,  of  the  value  of  forty  shillings, 
weie  set  apart  for  the  purchase  of  such  necessities,  in  the 
wa}  of  food,  as  they  might  require.  In  addition  to  the 
absolutely  necessary  baggage,  the  party  carried  with  Ihern 


SECOND  ASCENT  OF  THE  LfiEAMBYE.  63 

four  elephants'  tusks  belonging  to  Sekeletu,  by  the  sale  of 
which  they  were  to  test  the  worth  of  the  market  on  the 
coast. 

Surety  never  was  so  formidable  a  journey  undertaken 
with  so  little  preparation  in  the  way  of  mere  persona 
comfort  and  convenience ;  but  the  want  of  hundreds  of 
these  things  usually  supposed  to  be  "  indispensable  to 
travellers, "  undertaking  journeys  of  trifling  danger  and 
extent  in  comparison,  were  more  than  made  up  by  a  large 
stock  of  pluck  and  endurance,  and  the  courage  and  resolve 
which  are  born  of  an  enterprise  which  had  for  its  object 
no  thought  of  personal  interest  or  aggrandizement,  but 
was  undertaken  in  the  noblest  spirit,  for  the  physical  and 
spiritual  welfare  of  the  savage  tribes  of  Central  Africa. 

Scouts  were  sent  to  examine  the  country  to  the  west,  to 
discover  an  outlet  from  Linyanti  by  a  nearer  route  than 
the  one  taken  on  the  previous  journey.  But  none  could  be 
found  free  from  the  plague  of  tsetse,  and  such  as  were 
defiled  b}^  the  existence  of  the  slave-trade  ;  and  a  passage 
through  these  for  an  expedition,  the  leading,  material  pur- 
pose of  which  was  the  extinction  of  this  detestable  traffic, 
was  oat  of  the  question.  The  expedition  started  for  the 
Chobe  on  the  4th  of  November,  1853,  and  commenced 
their  voyage  down  that  river  at  the  island  Manuku,  where 
Livingstone  had  first  met  Sebituane.  Here  Sekeletu  and 
several  of  his  principal  men,  who  had  accompanied  them 
thus  far,  took  leave  of  them,  wishing  them  success, 
After  paddling,  at  the  rate  of  five  miles  an  hour,  for  forty- 
two  hours,  they  reached  the  Leeambye  ;  and,  proceeding 
up  the  river,  they  reached  Sesheke  on  the  19th  of 
November. 

Monantsane,  a  brother-in-law"  of  Sebituane,  the  chief 
of  the  various  tribes  in  and  around  Sesheke,  supplied 


64 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


Livingstone  with  milk,  honey,  and  meal,  and  sent  scouts 
up  the  river  to  the  villages  he  was  to  stop  at,  enjoining 
the  head  men  to  have  food  ready  for  him  and  his  party. 
The  chief,  and  large  numbers  of  the  people,  assembled  in 
the  open  air  to  listen  to  a  religious  address  from  Living- 
stone. The  audiences  were  very  attentive,  and  appeared 
anxious  to  profit  by  the  instruction  received,  betraying 
their  interest  by  asking  explanations  of  those  things 
which  were  beyond  their  comprehension.  Moriantsane 
acted  as  a  kind  of  amateur  beadle  in  keeping  order ;  on 
one  occasion,  hurling  his  staff  at  some  young  man  he  saw 
working  with  a  skin,  instead  of  listening  to  the  speaker. 

In  their  passage  up  the  river,  abundance  of  food  and 
fruit  were  provided.  Several  of  the  latter  are  worthy  of 
notice.  A  fruit,  about  the  size  of  an  orange,  contains  a 
number  of  seeds,  or  pips,  imbedded  in  layers  of  a  pleasant, 
juicy  pulp  ;  from  the  pips  and  bark  are  derived  a  variety 
of  nux  vomica,  from  which  strychnia  is  extracted.  A 
fruit  called  mobola,  being  about  the  size  of  a  date,  when 
stripped  of  the  seeds,  and  dried,  forms  a  very  palatable 
dish,  with  a  flavor  of  strawberries  ;  when  dried,  it  can  be 
preserved  for  a  considerable  period.  The  most  palatable 
fruit  of  the  district  is  called  the  mamoslio:  it  is  about 
the  size  of  a  walnut.  These  fruits  which  in  the  Leeam- 
bye  valley  grow  on  trees,  some  of  them  attaining  a  great 
size,  are  found  in  the  Kalahari  desert,  where  they  exist  ag 
small  herbaceous  plants.  In  the  well- watered  country, 
plants  which,  in  the  dry  regions  of  the  south,  are  mere 
shrubs,  become  great  trees  ;  illustrating,  in  a  remarkable 
manner,  the  effect  of  the  clrying-up  of  the  numerous 
water-courses  in  regions  once  as  rich  in  vegetation  as  the 
valleys  of  the  Zambesi  and  its  tributaries.  A  number  of 
his  attendants,  with  the  baggage  and  oxen  of  the  party. 


ABUNDANCE  OF  ANIMAL  LIFE.  65 

marched  by  land,  the  canoe  party  regulating  their 
advance  to  suit  theirs. 

As  the  trees  were  putting  on  their  fresh  green  leaves, 
the  banks  of  the  river  were  much  more  beautiful  than  on 
the  occasion  of  his  previous  visit.  In  case  of  accident 
from  the  attack,  or  the  sudden  uprising  near  them,  of  the 
hippopotami,  they  hugged  the  banks,  often  passing  under 
the  grateful  shade  of  giant  trees,  among  whose  branches 
the  ibis,  turtle-doves,  and  many  other  birds,  were  perched, 
careless  of  the  near  neighborhood  of  the  canoes  and 
their  occupants.  Plovers  of  various  kinds  wheeled  over- 
head, raising  a  great  clamor.  One  of  these,  from  its 
hard,  metallic  cry  called  setula-tsipi,  or  hammering- wire, 
is  the  bird  famous  for  its  friendship  with  the  crocodile  of 
the  Nile,  which  it  invariably  accompanies,  boldly  entering 
its  terrible  jaws,  and  finding,  in  the  entrance,  water-insects 
which  attach  themselves  to  the  roof  of  the  mouth  of  the 
brute,  causing  it  much  annoyance.  It  is  provided  with  a 
spur  on  its  shoulder  (the  top  of  the  wing)  about  half  an 
inch  in  length,  which  it  uses  as  a  weapon  of  defence. 
This  bird  and  its  habits  were  known  to  Herodotus  ;  and 
up  till  twenty  years  ago  the  account  was  looked  upon 
as  fabulous,  when  Mr.  St.  John  actually  witnessed  it  feed- 
ing within  the  iron  jaws  of  the  huge  reptile.  In  places 
where  the  banks  are  steep,  several  species  of  birds  build 
their  nests  in  holes  which  they  dig  with  their  bills. 
Among  these,  the  most  notable  is  the  bee-eater,  a  pretty 
little  bird,  a  species  of  sand-martin ;  and  several  species 
of  kingfisher,  one  of  them  as  large  as  a  pigeon. 

Song-birds  in  endless  variety,  some  of  them  new  to 
science,  enlivened  the  passage  of  the  river  ;  and  flocks  of 
green  pigeons  rose  from  the  trees  as  they  passed.  In 
some  districts  several  species  of  canaries  were  as  common, 
6* 


66  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

and  as  destructive  to  garden  produce,  as  sparrows.  The 
natives  tame  them,  and  keep  them  in  wicker  cages : 
fcheir  notes  are  clear  and  sweet.  Tame  pigeons  were  also 
common.  This  love  for  birds  would  appear  to  have  been 
initiated  by  Santuru  in  the  Leeambye  valley,  who  kept  a 
great  many  tame  animals  ;  among  others,  a  couple  of 
hippopotami,  ungainly  pets  enough. 

The  boomslang,  a  species  of  tree-snake,  feeds  upon 
small  birds  ;  the  noise  and  chattering  of  a  number  of  birds 
fluttering  round  a  tree  usually  indicate  its  presence. 
The  birds  are  unable  or  unwilling  to  keep  aloof  from  the 
dangerous  proximity  of  this  reptile ;  which  with  its  body 
coiled  round  a  branch,  its  head  and  about  a  foot  of  its 
neck  erect,  quietly  waits  until  one  of  them,  more  reck- 
less than  the  rest,  comes  within  reach  of  its  spring. 

The  snake-bird,  so  called  because  in  swimming  the 
whole  bocly  is  submerged,  and  only  the  head  and  neck 
appear  above  water,  floated  about  them.  The  fish-hawk 
and  the  pelican  preyed  on  the  finny  tribe  on  the  shoals  ; 
the  former  sometimes  relieving  the  pouch  of  the  latter  of 
its  occupant,  when  its  ungainly  bill  was  temptingly  open. 
Guinea-fowls  were  common  on  the  banks  ;  while  snipes, 
herons,  spoon-bills,  scissor-bills,  flamingoes,  cranes, 
geese,  and  various  other  aquatic  birds,  were  met  with  in 
great  numbers,  especially  in  the  uninhabited  districts. 
Vast  shoals  of  fish  descended  the  river  with  the  floods, 
the  rainy  season  having  set  in.  These  are  taken  by  the 
natives  in  the  shallow  creeks,  in  baskets,  nets,  and  by 
clumsy  hooks.  When  not  eaten  fresh, « they  are  pre- 
seived  by  smoke-drying  for  future  use.  Several  species 
of  mullet  are  very  abundant,  and  are  the  most  in  favor 
for  food.  Crocodiles  and  iguanas,  a  species  of  lizard, 
the  flesh  of  which  is  greatly  relished  by  the  natives, 


ASCENT  OF  THE  LEEBA. 


67 


plunged  into  the  water  at  the  approach  of  the  canoes ; 
while  in  creeks  and  shady  parts  hippopotami  floundered 
about,  the  females  carrying  their  young  upon  their  backs. 

Elephants,  rhinoceroses,  antelopes,  zebras,  &c,  were 
abundant  on  land  ;  and,  as  a  consequence,  lions  and  other 
carnivora  were  common. 

When  nearing  Naliele,  Livingstone  heard  that  a  party 
of  Makololo,  headed  by  Lerimo,  an  under-chief,  had 
carried  out  a  successful  foray  against  Masiko,  a  son  of 
Santuru,  the  chief  of  a  tribe  who  had  settled  with  his 
people  to  the  north  of  Naliele.  This  expedition  was 
undertaken  with  the  full  sanction  of  Mpololo  the  uncle  of 
Sekeletu,  and  head  chief  of  the  district.  Some  prisoners 
had  been  taken,  and  several  villages  destroyed.  As  this 
was  in  the  direction  Livingstone  was  going,  and  as 
Sekeletu  had  strictly  forbidden  that  such  forays  should  be 
undertaken,  he  determined,  in  the  name  and  by  the 
authority  of  Sekeletu,  to  condemn  the  transaction,  and 
compel  restitution  of  the  prisoners ;  Livingstone  under- 
taking to  conduct  the  former  to  their  homes,  and  deliver 
the  latter. 

At  Ma  Sekeletu' s  town  he  found  Mpololo  himself;  and, 
being  supported  by  the  mother  of  Sekeletu,  he  succeeded 
in  getting  the  captives  returned,  and  an  apology  sent  to 
Masiko.  A  fresh  foray,  for  which  a  number  of  men  had 
been  collected,  was  abandoned  ;  and,  through  the  influence 
of  Livingstone,  a  cowardly  warfare,  undertaken  for  the 
purpose  of  plunder,  was  prevented,  and  a  knowledge  of 
the  peaceful  and  wise  designs  of  Sekeletu  disseminated ; 
which  could  not  fail  to  be  of  much  value  to  the  comfort 
and  happiness  of  the  district. 

Mosantu,  a  Batoko  man,  was  despatched  to  Masiko 
with  the  captives  of  his  tribe,  with  a  message  that  he 


68  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


(Livingstone)  was  sorry  to  find  that  Santuru  had  not 
borne  a  wiser  son;  Santuru  loved  to  govern  men,  but 
Masiko  wanted  to  govern  wild  beasts.  Several  captives, 
belonging  to  other  tribes  farther  to  the  north,  were  taken 
with  the  party. 

Passing  up  the  placid  Leeba,  he  saw  a  tree  in  flower 
which  brought  the  pleasant  fragrance  of  hawthorn  hedges 
back  to  memory :  its  leaves,  flowers,  perfume,  and  fruit 
resembled  those  of  the  hawthorn  ;  only  the  flowers  were  as 
large  as  dog-roses,  and  the  "haws  like  bo}^' marbles." 
On  the  banks  of  the  Leeba  and  Leeambye,  and  farther  to 
the  north,  the  flowers  are  distinguished  for  their  sweet 
perfume  ;  a  pleasant  contrast  to  those  farther  south,  which 
either  emit  no  smell,  or  only  a  nauseous  odor. 

Crocodiles  were  very  numerous  ;  and,  as  it  was  the  sea- 
son for  hatching,  large  numbers  of  young  ones,  from  a 
foot  long  and  upwards,  were  met ;  the  little  creatures 
biting  savagely  at  the  spears  with  which  his  attendants 
impaled  them.  The  natives  search  for  and  eat  the  eggs 
when  they  are  fresh,  so  that  an  increase  of  population 
would  greatly  diminish  the  number  of  these  dangerous 
reptiles.  They  feed  on  fish,  and  the  smaller  species  of 
game  which  come  to  the  water  to  drink  ;  now  and  again 
picking  a  child,  a  woman,  or  a  man  off  the  banks,  or 
seizing  them  in  the  water  when  bathing.  The  natives 
have  little  dread  of  them  ;  and,  when  armed  with  a  knife 
or  javelin,  go  into  the  water,  and  attack  and  kill  them. 
One  of  Livingstone's  attendants,  in  swimming  across  a 
creek,  was  seized  by  one  ;  but,  being  armed  with  a  javelin, 
he  wounded  it  severely  behind  the  shoulder,  and  escaped 
with  a  severe  teeth-wound  in  the  thigh  where  the  brute 
had  seized  him. 

In  the  south,  when  a  man  has  been  bitten  by  a  croco« 


ASCENT  OF  THE  LEEBA. 


69 


dile,  he  is  shunned  by  the  rest  of  his  tribe  as  being  un- 
clean ;  but  in  the  north  no  such  custom  is  known,  as  they 
voluntarily  hunt  it  for  the  sake  of  its  flesh,  which  they  eat. 

At  the  village  of  Manenko,  two  Baloncla  men  visited 
Livingstone,  and  informed  him  that  one  of  his  party  was 
believed  to  have  acted  as  a  guide  to  Lerimo  during  his 
foray  in  the  district.  Having  a  captive  boy  and  girl  with 
him,  whom  he  was  conducting  back  to  their  people  to 
show  that  neither  he  nor  Sekeletu  had  any  thing  to  do 
with  the  fault  of  inferior  men,  they  were  so  far  satisfied 
that  his  intentions  were  peaceable,  and  departed  to  report 
the  conversation  to  Manenko,  the  first  female  chief  they 
had  come  across.  After  waiting  two  days,  an  answer 
came  from  this  African  amazon,  accompanied  with  a 
basket  of  manioc -roots,  that  they  were  to  remain  until 
she  should  visit  them.  Other  messengers  arrived  with 
orders  that  he  should  visit  her  ;  but,  having  lost  four  days 
in  negotiations,  he  declined  going  at  all,  and  proceeded 
up  stream  to  the  confluence  of  the  Leeba  and  Makondo. 
Here  one  of  the  party  picked  up  a  bit  of  a  steel  watch- 
chain  ;  and  its  being  there  was  explained  by  the  infor- 
mation that  it  was  here  the  Mambari  crossed  in  going  and 
coming  to  Masiko. 

Among  other  articles  of  commerce,  the  Mambari  bring 
Manchester  goods  into  the  valley  of  the  Leeba  and  Leeam- 
bye ;  which  seem  so  wonderful,  in  the  eyes  of  the  simple 
natives,  that  they  cannot  believe  that  they  are  the  work 
of  mortal  hand.  No  explanation  satisfies  them.  "How 
can  the  irons  spin,  weave,  and  print  so  beautifully? 
Truly  ye  are  God  !  "  It  was  impossible  for  them  to  un- 
derstand the  hard  and  prosaic  toil  endured,  in  the  manu- 
facture of  similar  fabrics,  for  years  by  the  white  man  who 
stood  before  them,  —  toil  sweetened  by  the  opportunity 


70  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


the  remuneration  for  it  gave  him  to  prepare  himself  for 
the  great  work  he  was  to  accomplish  on  their  behalf ;  a 
work,  which,  to  the  worldly  and  unthinking,  brought  no 
adequate  reward  for  his  early  sufferings  and  toils. 

Sheakondo,  chief  of  the  village  of  the  same  name  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Lonkonye,  visited  the  bivouac  of  the 
party  with  two  of  his  sons.  The  people  who  accompa- 
nied him  had  their  teeth  filed  to  a  point,  by  way  of  beau- 
tifying themselves.  They  were  tattooed  and  marked  on 
the  body  with  stars  formed  by  the  skin  being  raised  in 
small  cicatrices.  They  wear  little  or  no  clothing,  and 
anoint  their  bodies  with  butter  or  ox-fat,  and,  when  these 
fail  them,  with  oil  they  extract  from  the  castor-oil  plant. 
Sheakondo,  who  appears  to  have  been  a  fine  specimen  of 
an  unsophisticated  savage,  seemed  awe-struck  when  told 
some  of  the  "words  of  God."  The  elder  of  his  wives 
presented  some  manioc-roots,  begging  for  butter  to  anoint 
herself  in  exchange,  which  was  given  to  her ;  and  as  she 
had  little  clothing,  and  was  not  very  clean,  he  says,  "I 
can  readily  believe  that  she  felt  her  comfort  greatly  en- 
hanced thereby."  The  younger  and  more  favored  wife 
also  begged  for  butter ;  and  she  had  numbers  of  iron 
rings  on  her  ankles,  to  which  were  suspended  small  pieces 
of  sheet-iron,  which  made  a  tinkling  as  she  walked  min- 
cingly  in  African  style,  —  simple  ornaments  which  ap- 
peared to  give  her  a  great  deal  of  pleasure.  Livingstone 
dryly  remarks,  "  The  same  thing  is  thought  pretty  by  our 
own  dragoons  in  walking  jauntily." 

Wending  their  way  up  stream,  they  arrived  at  the  vil- 
lage of  another  female  chief,  Nyamoana,  the  mother  of 
Manenko,  and  the  sister  of  Shinte,  the  greatest  Balonda 
chief  of  the  Leeba  district.  Nyamoana  gave  Livingstone 
an  audience.    She  was  seated  alongside  of  her  husband,  - 


V 

INTERVIEW  WITH  FEMALE  CHIEF.  71 

on  skins,  on  a  raised  couch,  surrounded  by  a  trench. 
Round  this  trench  sat  about  a  hundred  of  her  people  of 
all  ages,  the  men  armed  with  bows,  spears,  and  broad 
swords.  After  a  palaver,  Livingstone  drew  their  atten- 
tion to  his  hair,  which  was  always  a  subject  of  curiosity 
in  the  district.  They  imagined  it  a  wig  made  of  a  lion's 
mane,  and  could  hardly  believe  it  to  be  hair.  He  ex- 
plained to  them  that  his  was  the  real,  original  hair, 
"  such  as  theirs  would  have  been,  had  it  not  been  scorched 
and  frizzled  by  the  sun."  In  proof  of  what  the  sun 
could  do,  he  uncovered  his  bosom,  and  showed  them  the 
contrast  between  its  white  hue,  and  his  bronzed  face  and 
hands.  As  they  go  nearly  naked,  and  exposed  to  the  sun, 
this  practical  lesson  enabled  them  readily  to  grasp  the 
idea  of  a  common  origin  for  whites  and  blacks.  This 
was  a  familiar  illustration  of  Livingstone's  in  addressing 
the  natives. 

Nyamoana's  people  were  very  superstitious  ;  and  it  was 
here  that  he  first  saw  evidence  of  the  existence  of  idola- 
try. It  was  a  human  head  rudely  carved  on  a  block  of 
wood.  His  watch  and  pocket-compass  were  scanned  with 
much  curiosity  ;  but,  although  invited  to  look  at  them  by 
her  husband,  the  chief  appeared  to  be  afraid  of  them, 
and  could  not  be  persuaded  to  approach  near  enough  to 
see  them. 

On  expressing  his  intention  of  proceeding  up  the  Leeba, 
Which  appeared  still  to  come  from  the  direction  he  wished 
to  go,  Nyamoana  urged  him  not  to  do  so,  as  there  was  a 
cataract  in  front,  and  the  Balobale,  whose  country  lies  to 
the  west  of  the  river,  might  kill  the  party.  As  the  Balo- 
oale  were  unfriendly  to  the  Makololo,  his  attendants 
joined  with  her  in  urging  that  they  should  proceed  by 
land,  and  visit  her  brother  Shinte.    In  the  midst  of  the 


72  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


discussion,  Manenko  appeared  upon  the  scene,  and,  throw- 
ing her  influence  into  the  scale,  carried  the  day  against 
the  further  ascent  of  the  river. 

Manenko  was  a  tall,  well-formed,  hardy,  and  masculine 
woman,  about  twenty  years  of  age  ;  a  profusion  of  orna- 
ments and  medicines,  supposed  to  act  as  charms,  being 
suspended  about  her  person.  She  scarcely  wore  airy 
clothing  ;  and  her  body  was  smeared  with  a  mixture  of 
fat  and  red  ochre,  as  a  protection  against  the  weather. 
When  asked  why  she,  who  could  procure  plenty  of  cloth- 
ing, went  about  in  a  state  of  nudity,  she  replied  that  it 
was  necessary  for  her,  as  chief,  to  show  her  indifference 
to  the  weather.  She  was  a  splendid  pedestrian,  and  on  a 
march  made  her  attendants  and  companions  glad  when 
she  proposed  a  halt.  Livingstone's  attendants  succumbed 
at  once  to  the  strong  will  of  this  female  ruler ;  and  Liv- 
ingstone himself,  though  resolute  and  inflexible  in  carrying 
out  his  own  purpose  in  his  own  way,  was  compelled  to 
give  way  to  her  wishes.  What  could  he  do  when,  ap- 
proaching him,  she  put  her  hand  on  his  shoulder  in  a 
motherly  wa}T,  and  said,  "Now,  my  little  man,  just  do  as 
the  rest  have  done  "  ? 

As  the  tribes  in  the  districts  where  he  now  found  him- 
self had  no  cattle,  the  party  suffered  severely  from  the 
want  of  food.  All  they  had  had  for  several  days  was  a 
small  dole  of  manioc-roots  every  evening  from  Npmoana. 
This  was  the  state  of  affairs  when  Mosantu  arrived  from 
his  visit  to  Masiko,  accompanied  by  an  imposing  embassy, 
consisting  of  his  under- chiefs,  who  brought  a  fine  ele- 
phant's tusk,  two  calabashes  of  honey,  and  a  large  piece 
of  blue  baize,  as  presents.  He  sent  his  expressions  of 
pleasure  at  the  return  of  the  captives,  and  at  the  prospects 
of  a  peaceful  alliance  with  the  Makololo. 


MARCH  TO  VISIT  SHINTE.  73 

An  ox  was  given  by  Livingstone  as  a  return  for  his 
gifts  ;  but  the  poor  under-chiefs  were  so  hungry,  that  they 
wished  to  kill  and  eat  it.  On  asking  his  permission  to  do 
this,  he  was  reluctantly  compelled  to  decline,  as  he  had 
nothing  he  could  send  instead,  and  had  no  food  to  offer 
them. 

Manenko,  and  her  husband  Sambanza,  accompanied  by 
a  drummer,  whose  duty  it  was  to  thump  regularly  on  his 
drum,  in  order  to  acquaint  all  people  they  might  meet  with 
the  fact  that  a  personage  of  importance  was  coming, 
started  to  escort  Livingstone  and  his  party  to  Shinte's 
town.  The  rain  poured  in  torrents,  notwithstanding  that 
her  husband  endeavored  to  stop  it  by  various  incantations 
and  vociferations.  Manenko  marched  on  unconcernedly 
at  such  a  rate  as  made  it  difficult  for  the  men  to  keep  up 
with  her.  Livingstone  being  still  weak  from  fever,  which 
was  aggravated  by  the  low  diet  of  the  last  few  days,  was 
on  oxback,  the  indomitable  Manenko  walking  by  his  side, 
keeping  up  a  lively  conversation.  All  suffered  from  want 
in  this  journey.  The  balk  of  what  they  had  was  begged 
from  the  inhabitants  of  the  villages  they  passed  ;  and  they 
were  a  sad  contrast  to  the  Makololo,  for  on  several  occa- 
sions they  were  refused  even  the  scantiest  supply.  Even 
when  Manenko  herself  went  to  beg  something  for  Living- 
stone, on  one  occasion,  she  only  managed  to  procure  five 
ears  of  maize,  notwithstanding  that  the  head  man  of  the 
tillage  was  a  subject  of  her  uncle's. 

In  the  forests  they  came  upon  artificial  beehives,  wnich 
are  formed  by  removing  the  bark  whole  from  a  tree  ;  which 
is  then  sewed  up,  closed  at  both  ends,  and,  after  a  hole  is 
perforated  in  it  for  the  bees  to  pass  in  and  out  by,  it  is 
aung  upon  a  tree.  The  bees,  finding  so  suitable  a  place 
for  the  deposit  of  their  honey  and  wax,  take  possession 
7 


74  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

of  it ;  and  at  the  proper  season  their  store  is  removed. 
In  this  way  all  the  honey  and  wax  exported  from  Loanda 
are  collected.  A  piece  of  medicine  is  attached  to  the 
tree,  and  proves  a  sufficient  protection.  Their  idolatry 
is  the  result  of  fear  only ;  and  their  dread  of  conse- 
quences keeps  the  people  honest  under  such  circumstances. 

To  the  west  of  the  Leeba,  Livingstone  and  his  men 
found  it  useless  to  follow  the  fluttering  flight  of  the  bee- 
eater,  a  pretty  little  bird,  as  all  the  bees  of  the  district 
were  artificially  provided  with  hives  ;  and  he  would  not 
permit  any  of  the  hives  to  be  destroj'ed. 

Great  quantities  of  edible  mushrooms  were  found  in  the 
forest ;  and  as  they  were  pleasant  to  eat,  some  of  them 
even  when  raw,  they  proved  a  great  blessing  in  their 
present  half-starved  condition.  Some  of  these  grow  to  a 
great  size,  as  large  as  the  crown  of  a  hat ;  and  several  of 
them  are  of  colors  unknown  to  Europe,  one  being 
dark  blue.  In  this  district  he  first  saw  signs  of  the 
insecurity  of  life  and  property.  The  huts  were  closed 
with  upright  stakes,  which  were  removed  and  replaced  as 
the  inmate  went  in  or  departed.  The  dealings  with  the 
Mambari  in  slaves,  and  the  over-reaching  nature  of  their 
bargainings,  had  introduced  a  lower  state  of  morals  than 
that  he  found  prevailing  among  the  Bechuanas  and  the 
Makololo ;  where  theft  and  over-reaching  were  all  but 
unknown  in  their  transactions  with  each  other,  and  the 
relations  between  man  and  man  were  conducted  with 
primitive  simplicity  and  justice.  In  all  ages  and  at  all 
times,  wherever  slavery  exists,  and  is  fostered  by  white 
men,  the  vices  of  civilization,  without  its  virtues,  become 
rampant. 

Katompo,  Shinte's  town,  stands  in  a  pleasant  green 
valley,  with  a  limpid  brook  running  through  it.    The  town 


ARRIVAL  AT  SHINT&S  TOWN. 


75 


was  embowered  in  trees  ;  and  the  huts  were  well  built,  and 
had  square  walls  (the  first  he  had  seen),  and  circular 
roofs.  The  streets  were  straight ;  and  each  hut  had  its 
patch  of  ground,  in  which  tobacco,  sugar-cane,  and 
bananas  were  carefully  cultivated,  and  was  surrounded 
by  a  straight  fence  of  upright  poles  a  few  inches  apart, 
with  grass  or  leafy  branches  interwoven  between.  Out- 
side these  fences,  trees  of  the  Ficus  indica  family,  which 
they  hold  in  veneration,  form  a  grateful  shade.  Two 
native  Portuguese  traders,  and  a  large  number  of  Mamba- 
ri,  were  in  the  town,  dealing  in  their  wares,  and  trading 
in  human  flesh.  For  the  first  time  most  of  his  men  saw 
slaves  in  chains.  44  They  are  not  men,"  they  exclaimed, 
44  who  treat  children  so." 

Shinte  gave  Livingstone  a  grand  reception  in  the  Kotla, 
or  place  of  assemblage.  About  a  hundred  women  were 
present :  this  was  the  first  occasion  in  which  he  had  seen 
women  present  in  the  Kotla  on  a  formal  occasion.  A 
party  of  musicians,  consisting  of  three  drummers,  and 
four  performers  on  the  marimba,  filled  up  the  intervals 
with  music.  The  marimba  44  consists  of  two  bars  of 
wood  placed  side  by  side,  here  quite  straight,  but  farther 
north  bent  round  so  as  to  resemble  half  the  tire  of  a  car- 
riage-wheel ;  across  these  are  placed  about  fifteen  wooden 
keys,  two  or  three  inches  broad,  and  fifteen  inches  long ; 
their  thickness  is  regulated  according  to  the  deepness  of 
the  note  required.  Each  of  the  keys  has  a  calabash  be- 
neath it ;  from  the  upper  part  of  each  a  portion  is  cut  olf 
to  enable  them  to  embrace  the  bars,  and  form  hollow 
sounding-boards  to  the  keys  ;  and  little  drumsticks  elicit 
the  music.  Rapidity  of  execution  seems  much  admired 
among  them  ;  and  the  music  is  pleasant  to  the  ear.1' 

After  a  man  had  imitated  44  the  most  approved  attitules 


76 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


observed  in  actual  fight,  —  as,  of  throwing  one  javelin, 
receiving  another  on  the  shield,  springing  to  one  side 
to  avoid  a  third,  running  backwards  and  forwards,  leap- 
ing, &c,  —  Sambanza  (Manenko  was  indisposed),  and  the 
spokesman  of  Nyamoana,  stalked  backward  and  forward 
before  Shinte,  giving  him  a  full  and  true  account,  so  far 
as  they  knew,  of  the  white  man,  and  his  object  in  passing 
through  the  country ;  recommending  him  to  receive  him 
well,  and  send  him  on  his  way.  Several  speakers  among 
his  own  head  men  also  delivered  orations,  the  women 
bursting  into  a  plaintive  melody  between  each.  This 
over,  Shinte  stood  up,  and  the  reception  was  at  an  end. 
The  power  and  standing  of  Shinte  among  the  Balonda 
chiefs  was  borne  out  by  the  numbers  present,  there  being 
albout  a  thousand  people,  and  three  hundred  armed  men." 

On  this  occasion  no  communication  passed  between 
Livingstone  and  Shinte.  By  some  mistake,  the  former 
was  permitted  to  take  a  seat  at  a  considerable  distance 
from  the  latter ;  and  the  one  being  too  dignified  to  ap- 
proach his  guest,  and  the  other  imagining  that  all  was 
according  to  etiquette  at  Kabompo,  they  parted  without 
exchanging  a  word  ;  but  it  was  remarked  by  his  attend- 
ants that  Shinte  scarcely  took  his  eyes  off  Livingstone 
during  the  interview.  Next  day  Livingstone  was  com- 
manded to  visit  him,  and  found  him  frank  and  straight- 
forward. He  was  about  fifty-five  years  of  age,  about  the 
middle  height,  and  of  dignified  bearing.  After  discuss- 
ing Livingstone's  plans,  he  signified  his  approval  of  them. 
After  the  business  was  over,  Livingstone  inquired  if  he 
had  ever  seen  a  white  man  before.  "  Never :  you  are 
the  very  first  man  I  have  seen  with  a  white  skin  and 
straight  hair ;  your  clothing,  too,  is  different  from  any 
W3  have  ever  s^en." 


V 


INTERVIEW  WITH  SHINTE.  77 

On  receiving  a  hint  that  "  Shinte's  mouth  was  bitter 
for  want  of  tasting  ox-flesh,"  Livingstone  presented  him 
with  one  to  his  great  delight ;  recommending  him  to  trade 
in  cows  with  the  Makololo,  as  his  country  was  so  well 
adapted  for  them.  On  his  return,  Livingstone  found  that 
this  shrewd  savage  had  followed  his  advice.  When  Ma- 
nenko,  who  was  busy  preparing  a  hut  and  court-yard  suit- 
able to  her  pretensions,  heard  that  the  white  man  had 
presented  her  uncle  with  an  ox,  she  was  very  wroth. 
"  This  white  man  belonged  to  her.  She  had  brought  him  ; 
and  therefore  the  ox  was  hers,  not  Shinte's  ;"  and,  ordering 
her  men  to  bring  it,  she  had  it  slaughtered,  only  sending 
her  uncle  a  leg,  with  which  he  appeared  to  be  quite  con- 
tented. She  evidently  had  her  own  way  with  him,  as  with 
all  others  with  whom  she  came  in  contact. 

The  magic-lantern  was  a  never-failing  source  of  interest 
and  instruction  everywhere.  The  simple  savages  never 
tired  of  looking  at  the  pictures,  many  of  them  travelling 
miles  to  see  them  ;  chiefs  and  peoples  inquiring  minutely 
as  to  the  meaning  of  every  picture.  As  many  of  them 
were  illustrations  of  Scripture  subjects,  he  found  it  a 
ready  means  of  introducing  them  to  Bible  truths.  A 
kind  of  beer,  or  mead,  is  largely  drunk  among  the  Balonda  ; 
and  many  cases  of  intoxication  —  a  thing  unknown  far- 
ther south  —  were  observed.  Sambanza,  the  husband  of 
Manenko,  got  hopelessly  tipsy  on  one  occasion,  and  stag- 
gered towards  the  hut  of  his  wife ;  and  although,  as  Liv- 
ingstone says,  she  "had  never  promised  to  '  love,  honor, 
and  obey  him,'  she  had  not  been  '  nursing  her  wrath  to 
keep  it  warm : '  so  she  coolly  bundled  him  into  the  hut, 
and  put  him  to  bed.' " 

At  their  last  interview,  Shinte  presented  Livingstone 
with  a  string  of  beads,  and  the  end  of  a  common  sea-shel] 

7* 


78 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


mounted  with  string,  "  which  is  considered,  in  regions  fai 
from  the  sea,  of  as  great  value  as  the  lord-mayor's  badge 
in  London.  He  hung  it  round  my  neck,  and  said,  '  There  ! 
now  you  have  a  proof  of  my  friendship.' "  For  two  such 
shells  he  afterwards  found  a  slave  could  be  bought ;  and 
five  of  them  were  considered  a  handsome  price  for  an  ele- 
phant's tusk  worth  ten  pounds.  After  furnishing  him 
with  guides,  and  a  stock  of  provisions,  they  parted  with 
mutual  good  wishes,  each  being  serviceable  to  the  other  to 
an  extent  of  which  Shinte  had  little  idea. 


i 


CHAPTER  VL 

visits  katema's  town,  is  hospitably  entertained. 

The  great  explorer  was  now  in  regions  where  his  knowl- 
edge of  the  language  of  the  Bechuanas  and  the  Makololo 
was  of  no  service  to  him ;  and  he  speaks  bitterly  of  the 
inconvenience  and  drawbacks  of  speaking  through  an  in- 
terpreter. 

From  Kabompo  to  Katema's  town,  Livingstone  and  his 
party  passed  across  a  country  rich  in  woods  and  fertile 
plains  ;  the  latter  covered,  from  a  depth  of  a  few  inches  to 
several  feet,  with  water,  the  result  of  the  incessant  rains 
which  fell  daily.  In  this  vast  plain,  the  rivers  which  unite 
to  form  the  Zambesi  take  their  rise.  The  people  at  the 
various  villages  were  very  friendly,  presenting  Living- 
stone and  his  party  with  abundance  of  food,  and  even 
striving  who  should  have  the  pleasure  of  entertaining 
them.  The  people  were  very  superstitious ;  their  super- 
stition taking  the  form  of  a  dread  and  terror  of  some 
being  or  beings  unseen,  and  supposed  to  be  near  and  dan- 
gerous. In  the  forests,  'medicines  were  found  fixed  to  the 
trees  as  charms,  human  faces  cut  out  of  the  bark,  and 
propitiatory  gifts  hung  in  the  branches,  and  bundles  of 
twigs,  to  which  every  passer-by  added  his  or  her  quota  ; 
all  designed  as  offerings  to  the  unseen  powers,  who  drew 
them  by  fear,  and  not  by  love. 

Several  remarkable  chiefs  and  head  men  were  met  and 
conversed  with  during  this  stage  of  the  journey.  Mozin- 

79 


80 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


kwa,  a  head  man  of  Katema's,  and  his  wife  (he  had  only 
one),  were  far  above  the  ordinary  run  in  intelligence. 
They  had  a  large  and  well-kept  garden,  hedged  round. 
The  hut  and  court-yard  were  surrounded  by  a  living  and 
impenetrable  wall  of  banyan-trees.  Cotton  grew  round 
all  the  premises.  Plants  used  as  relishes  to  the  insipid 
porridge  of  the  district,  castor-oil  plants,  Indian  brignalls, 
yams,  and  sweet-potatoes  were  carefully  and  successfully 
cultivated.  Several  large  trees,  planted  in  the  middle  of 
the  yard,  formed  a  grateful  shade  to  the  huts  of  the  fam- 
ily, who  were  fine  specimens  of  the  negro  race  at  its  best. 
Livingstone  was  much  touched  by  the  worth  and  kindness 
of  this  family,  and,  amongst  other  things,  promised  to 
bring  the  wife  a  cloth  from  the  white  man's  country  on 
his  return.  But  alas  !  before  his  return  she  was  dead  ; 
and  Mozinkwa  and  his  family  had  forsaken  their  pleasant 
huts  and  gardens  ;  as  a  Balonda  man  cannot  live  in  a  spot 
where  a  favorite  wife  has  died. 

In  speaking  to  these  people  on  religious  subjects,  he 
found  that  nothing  made  so  much  impression  upon  them 
as  the  fact  that  the  Son  of  God  came  down  from  heaven 
to  die  for  men,  and  really  endured  death  in  our  stead,  out 
of  pure  love  ;  and  to  tell  about  God,  and  the  place  from 
whence  he  had  come.  If  this  method  of  interesting  them 
did  not  succeed,  he  found  it  impossible  to  move  them. 
As  human  sacrifices  had  been  at  one  time  common  among 
the  Balonda,  and  at  the  time  of  Livingstone's  visit  still 
existed  in  a  limited  degree,  on  the  occasion  of  the  death  of 
great  chiefs,  &c,  they  would  really  appreciate  the  sacri- 
fice made  by  a  great  being  in  submitting  himself  to  death 
iD  the  place  of  others.  Quenclencle  was  a  snuff-taker,  and 
prepared  the  titillating  powder  in  a  primitive  fashion.  The 
leaves  of  the  tobacco-plant,  after  being  dried  at  the  fire, 


INTERVIEW  WITH  KATE  MA. 


81 


were  pounded  in  a  mortar,  after  which  it  was  ready  for 
use. 

Quendende,  the  father-in-law  of  Katema,  a  fine  old 
man  with  long  woolly  hair  reaching  to  the  shoulders, 
plaited  on  either  side,  and  the  back  hair  gathered  into  a 
lump  on  the  nape  of  the  neck,  recived  a  visit  which  grati- 
fied him  much.  The  whole  party  were  hospitably  enter- 
tained by  him  ;  and  he  took  much  interest  in  all  that  the 
white  man  told  him,  and  gave  him  much  information  as  to 
the  Balonda  and  their  habits,  in  return.  Speaking  of 
Matiamvo,  a  powerful  chief  of  the  district,  he  said  that 
so  absolute  was  he,  that,  when  any  of  the  mountain  traders 
arrived,  he  would  select  a  large  portion  of  their  goods, 
and  hand  over  a  number  of  his  people,  or  even  the  inhabit- 
ants of  an  entire  village,  as  pa}'ment.  He  was  a  man  of 
violent  temper,  and  appeared  to  have  been  really  insane, 
as  "he  sometimes  indulged  in  the  whim  of  running  a 
muck  in  the  town,  and  beheading  whomsoever  he  met, 
until  he  had  quite  a  heap  of  human  heads."  That  they 
have  some  notion  of  a  future  state,  is  evident  from  the 
remark  of  an  ambassador  of  Matiamvo  when  he  was 
rebuked  for  his  cruelty,  and  told  that  he  would  be  judged 
in  company  with  those  he  destroyed.  u  We  do  not  go  up 
to  God  as  you  do  :  we  are  put  into  the  ground,"  was  his 
answer. 

Katema  received  the  party  seated  on  a  sort  of  throne, 
with  about  three  hundred  of  his  principal  men  around 
nim,  and  thirty  women,  said  to  be  his  wives,  seated 
behind.  The  main  body  of  the  people  were  seated  in  a 
semicircle  about  fifty  yards  distant.  Intemese,  the  chief 
guide  sent  with  Livingstone  by  Shinte,  in  a  speech,  gave 
the  history  of  tEe  white  man,  his  doings  and  inten- 
sions.   Katema  placed  twelve  large  baskets  of  meal,  half 


82  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

a  dozen  fowls,  and  a  dozen  eggs,  before  them,  telling  them 
to  "  go  home,  and  cook  and  eat,  and  you  will  then  be  in 
a  fit  state  to  speak  to  me  at  an  audience  I  will  give  you 
to-morrow."  Katema  is  described  by  Livingstone  as  "  a 
tall  man,  about  forty  years  of  age ;  and  his  head  was 
ornamented  with  a  helmet  of  beads  and  feathers.  He 
had  on  a  once  snuff-brown  coat,  with  a  broad  band  of  tinsel 
down  the  arms,  and  carried  in  his  hand  a  large  tail  made 
of  the  caudal  extremities  of  a  number  of  gnus,"  which 
had  charms  attached  to  it. 

He  had  a  great  idea  of  his  own  importance,  and  did 
not  fail  to  give  Livingstone  the  benefit  of  it  on  the 
morrow.  44 1  am  the  great  Moene  (lord)  Katema,  the 
father  of  Matiamvo.  There  is  no  one  in  this  country 
equal  to  Matiamvo  and  me.  I  have  always  lived  here, 
and  my  forefathers  too.  There  is  the  house  in  which  my 
father  lived.  You  found  no  human  skulls  near  the  place 
where  you  encamped.  I  never  killed  any  of  the  traders  : 
they  all  come  to  me.  I  am  the  great  Moene  Katema,  of 
whom  you  have  heard." 

Livingstone  presented  him  with  several  small  articles, 
apologizing  for  the  smallness  of  his  gift,  and  asking  him 
what  he  should  bring  him  from  the  coast,  hinting  that  it 
should  not  be  bulky.  Every  thing  (he  said  laughing)  of 
the  white  people  would  be  acceptable,  and  he  would 
receive  any  thing  thankfully  ;  but  the  coat  he  had  then  on 
was  old,  and  he  would  like  another. 

Unlike  the  chiefs  farther  to  the  south,  he  had  a  herd  of 
cattle  reared  from  two  he  bought  from  the  Balobale  when 
he  was  young.  They  were  fine  animals,  almost  white, 
and  as  handsome  and  nearly  as  active  as  elands.  As  he 
did  not  milk  them,  they  were  in  a  semi-wild  state  ;  and, 
when  he  wanted  to  kill  one,  it  had  to  be  stalked  and  shot. 


PASS  LAKE  DILOLO. 


83 


Livdngstone  explained  to  him  how  to  milk  them.  The 
Balonda  are  remarkable  for  a  formal  etiquette,  which  will 
not  permit  them  to  eat  meat  prepared  by  others,  or  to  eat 
in  the  presence  of  strangers  ;  and,  when  an  inferior  meets  a 
superior,  he  drops  on  his  knees,  and  puts  handfuls  of  dust 
on  his  breast. 

Here  several  of  Livingstone's  people  suffered  from 
fever,  and  he  had  another  attack  himself.  These  frequent 
seizures  had  reduced  his  strength,  but  had  not  impaired, 
in  the  slightest  degree,  that  resolute  and  iron  will  which  al- 
lowed nothing  to  interfere  with  the  great  end  he  had  in  view. 
Before  he  was  quite  recovered,  he  was  on  the  move  again, 
accompanied  by  three  guides  given  by  Katema.  While 
here,  and  at  Shinte's  town,  they  had  wanted  for  nothing 
the  people  had  to  give  ;  and  they  were  able  to  return  the 
compliment,  as  while  there  they  killed  an  ox,  a  share  of 
which  was  a  great  boon  to  people  who  seldom  tasted  flesh- 
meat.  The  want  of  cattle  throughout  a  district  so  ad- 
mirably adapted  for  them  on  account  of  the  abundance 
of  grass  and  water,  and  the  freedom  from  tsetse,  struck 
him  as  singular. 

Pushing  on  through  flooded  plains,  and  dank  forests, 
the  party  reached  the  narrow  end  of  Lake  Dilolo,  which 
at  its  widest  is  about  three  miles  broad,  and  is  about 
seven  miles  long.  Livingstone's  weak  state  rendered  it 
undesirable  that  he  should  examine  it  carefully,  even 
although  this  only  involved  a  few  miles  of  travel.  The 
frequent  attacks  of  fever  from  which  he  had  suffered  made 
him  anxious  to  loiter  as  little  by  the  way  as  possible. 
His  passionate  desire  was  to  reach  the  coast ;  and  the 
only  dread  which  seemed  to  possess  him  was,  that  he 
might  succumb  before  accomplishing  his  purpose} ;  in 
which  case  his  long  and  toilsome  journey  would  have  been 


84  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

useless  to  mankind.  On  reaching  the  unflooded  higher 
lands  je3~ond  the  plain,  Livingstone  discovered,  to  his  joy 
and  surprise,  that  he  now  stood  on  an  elevated  plateau 
which  formed  the  water-shed  both  of  the  northern  and  the 
southern  rivers.  The  streams  running  north  fell  into  the 
Kasai,  or  Loke  ;  and  those  to  the  south  united  to  form  the 
Zambesi  (under  the  names  of  the  Leeba  and  Leeambye) , 
the  upward  course  of  whose  waters  he  had  followed  with 
so  much  ease  and  comfort. 

Here  the  valleys  were  deeper  and  more  beautiful  than 
any  he  had  yet  seen.  Their  steep  sides  were  seamed  with 
water-courses  ;  and,  as  each  of  these  valleys  was  drained 
by  a  running  stream,  the  growth  of  the  trees  was  not 
impeded  by  the  accumulation  for  months  annually  of  stag- 
nant water.  Many  of  these  trees  grew  to  a  great  height ; 
sixty  and  eighty  feet  of  clean,  straight  trunk,  ere  the 
branches  were  reached,  being  not  uncommon.  The 
ground  underneath  was  covered  with  a  luxuriant  crop  of 
green  grass,  through  and  over  which  beautiful  flowers  of 
all  colors  stood  out,  and  perfumed  the  air. 

Turning  westwards  through  such  scenery  as  this,  Liv- 
ingstone found  himself  among  tribes  who  owed  allegiance 
to  Katema,  and  whose  dealings  with  the  Mambari  had 
taught  them  to  give  nothing  to  strangers  out  Of  friend- 
ship. Gunpowder  or  calico  was  demanded  for  every 
thing ;  and  as  he  had  none  of  these  to  spare,  and  as  his 
last  parcel  of  beads  was  about  all  he  had  to  traffic  with 
for  the  long  and  arduous  journey  still  before  him,  he 
began  to  dread  that  the  expedition  was  doomed  to  suffer 
more  from  hunger  than  it  had  yet  done.  Kangenke,  a 
chief  whose  village  is  near  the  Kasai,  although  not 
inclined  to  play  the  generous  host,  readily  furnished 
guides,  enabling  the  party  to  proceed  at  once.  They 


AN  AFRICAN  "  PIKE  MAN." 


85 


crcssed  the  Kasai  in  canoes,  tho  men  pointing  out  its 
course,  saying,  "Though  you  sail  along  it  for  months, 
you  will  turn  without  seeing  the  end  of  it."  The  Kasai 
and  its  affluents  unite,  and  form  the  Congo,  which  falls 
into  the  Atlantic  Ocean  four  degrees  to  the  north  of  Lo- 
anda,  whither  the  expedition  was  bound  ;  so  that  its  course 
was  long  enough  to  to  give  these  untravelled  savages  a 
high  notion  as  to  its  unknown  extent.  Speaking  of  the 
si  ream  where  the  party  crossed  it,  Livingstone  likens  it  to 
his  native  Clyde,  which,  in  its  lower  reaches  above  Glas- 
.gow,  is  richly  wroocled. 

Food  was  now  getting  scarce,  as  none  could  be  got 
unless  in  exchange  for  something  out  of  their  little  store. 
One  of  the  guides  caught  a  blue  mole,  and  two  mice, 
which  he  dressed  for  his  supper  ;  a  distinct  indication  that 
larger  game  was  scarce,  or  not  to  be  had.  Since  his  en- 
trance into  the  country  of  Balonda,  the  sight  of  herds  of 
game,  and  even  single  individuals,  had  become  few  and  far 
between  ;  and  these  had  become  so  shy,  from  being  hunted, 
that  there  was  no  chance  of  getting  within  gunshot  of 
them  without  horses  and  other  hunting  appliances,  which 
he  had  not  got.  The  weakness  caused  by  the  frequent 
attacks  of  fever,  and  the  bad  setting  of  his  shoulder, 
which  had  been  shattered  b}^  the  lion  which  attacked 
him  at  Chounane,  left  him  hardly  able  to  carry  or  hold 
his  gun  straight.  Katende,  a  chief,  sent  a  message  to 
Livingstone  that  he  must  give  him  either  a  man,  a  tusk, 
beads,  copper  rings,  or  a  shell,  before  he  would  be  allowed 
to  pass  ;  to  which  demand  an  explanation  of  his  circum- 
stances, and  one  of  his  remaining  shirts,  was  sent, 
together  with  a  message,  that,  if  he  liked,  he  might  come 
and  take  any  thing  else ;  in  which  case  he  would  reach 
Vis  own  chief  naked,  and  have  to  account  for  it  by 

8 


86  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


telling  that  Katende  had  taken  them.  The  shirt  was 
detained,  and  a  little  meal  and  manioc,  and  a  fowl,  sent, 
in  exchange,  to  the  famishing  band. 

They  passed  onward  without  seeing  Katende,  and 
reached  a  river  with  a  wooden  bridge  across  it,  which 
Livingstone  was  surprised  to  find  in  the  possession  of  a 
u  pikeman  "  who  demanded  toll,  —  a  functionary  he  had 
not  expected  to  meet  with  so  far  from  the  eocenes  of 
civilization.  A  payment  of  three  copper  bracelets  secured 
the  passage  of  the  party.  For  days  their  route  was  across 
a  country  intersected  by  valleys,  through  each  of  which 
flowed  a  flooded  stream,  more  or  less  difficult  to  cross. 
In  passing  one  of  these,  Livingstone  lost  his  hold  of  the 
tail  of  an  ox,  and  swam  unassisted  to  the  other  side,  to 
the  great  joy  of  his  men,  who  leaped  into  the  water  to 
save  him  They  had  not  known  till  then  that  he  could 
swim,  and  expressed  their  satisfaction,  and  contempt  for 
future  difficulties  of  a  similar  nature,  by  saying,  "We  can 
all  swim.  Who  carried  the  white  man  across  the  river 
but  himself?  " 

Livingstone's  men,  who  had  accompanied  him  from  the 
Leeambye  and  the  Chobe,  and  passed  through  so  many 
miles  of  country  not  half  so  fertile  as  the  region  they  had 
been  passing  through  for  days,  expressed  their  astonish- 
ment at  the  want  of  cattle,  and  the  non-cultivation  of  the 
Boil ;  especially  as  the  country  was  about  as  thickly  peopled 
as  their  own.  He  came  to  the  conclusion,  that,  when  wild 
game  was  abundant  in  the  district,  it  had  been  afflicted 
with  tsetse,  and  that  now,  on  account  of  the  introduction 
of  guns,  &c,  these  becoming  scarce,  the  insect  plague 
had  ceased ;  a  state  of  matters  of  which,  up  to  that  time, 
Shinte,  Katemo,  and  Matiamvo  were  the  only  chiefs  who 
had  had  the  wisdom  to  take  advantage. 


MUTINY  AMONG  HIS  MEN. 


87 


The  travellers  were  now  in  the  country  of  the  Chiboque, 
a  people  who,  through  their  connection  with  the  Mambari, 
had  imbibed  a  passion  for  plundering  all  strangers,  by  way 
of  toll  for  the  right  of  passage  through  their  country ; 
which  subjected  the  party  to  much  danger  and  incon- 
venience. Wishing  to  be  on  good  terms  with  Njambi,  a 
chief  of  some  consequence,  the  hump  and  ribs  of  an  ox 
they  had  slaughtered  were  sent  tQ  him.  The  gift  was 
accepted  ;  and  a  present  of  food  was  promised  next  day, 
which  resolved  itself  into  a  small  quantity  of  meal,  and  a 
demand  for  a  man,  an  ox,  a  gun,  some  powder,  or  cloth. 
About  mid-day,  the  }Toung  men  of  the  tribe  began  to  gather 
round  the  party  ;  and,  as  the^y  were  overheard  remarking 
that  they  had  only  five  guns,  it  was  evident  they  intended 
plundering,  and  perhaps  murdering  them.  Livingstone's 
men  stood  on  the  defensive,  while  the  young  Chiboque 
brandished  their  swords,  and  pointed  their  guns  at  Living- 
stone ;  who  sat  quietly  on  a  camp-stool,  with  his  double- 
barrelled  gun  across  his  knees. 

The  resolute  and  calm  demeanor  of  the  party  had  its 
effect ;  and  the  chief  consented  to  take  a  seat,  along  with 
several  of  his  head  men,  beside  Livingstone  to  talk  mat- 
ters over.  He  complained  that  one  of  his  men,  Pitsane, 
had  spat  upon  one  of  the  Chiboque,  and  that  the  matter 
might  be  settled  by  the  present  of  a  man,  an  ox,  or  a  gun. 
It  was  no  use  explaining  to  them  that  the  offence  was  a 
pure  accident :  they  were  determined  to  have  all  they  could 
get ;  and  after  a  bunch  of  beads  and  a  large  handkerchief 
had  been  given,  they  were  more  clamorous  than  ever. 
Feeling  certain  that  he  and  his  men  could  give  a  good 
account  of  these  plundering  savages,  but  being  determined 
to  avoid  bloodshed  unless  driven  to  extremity,  Livingstone 
maintained  his  coolness  ;  which  had  its  effect  upon  his  men , 


B8  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


as  well  as  upon  the  Chiboque.  Before  the  chief  and  hia 
counsellors  were  aware  of  it,  they  found  themselves  cut 
off  from  their  people,  and  surrounded  by  Livingstone's 
party.  This  induced  a  more  friendly  understanding,  and 
taught  them  unmistakably,  that  any  attempt  at  force 
would  be  met  with  a  most  formidable  defence.  Being 
desirous  of  satisfying  them  as  far  as  possible,  a  tired  ox 
was  given  to  the  chief,  who  promised  to  send  food  in 
return ;  but  all  he  sent  was  a  small  basket  of  meal,  and  a 
few  pounds  of  the  flesh  of  his  own  ox.  As  they  could 
now  depart,  Livingstone  forbore  remonstrating  against  the 
shabby  treatment  they  had  received,  and  pushed  on. 

For  several  days  he  suffered  severely  from  fever,  being 
scarcely  able  to  sit  upon  his  ox  ;  and,  when  quite  prostrate 
from  its  effects,  a  mutiny  arose  among  his  men,  who  were 
dissatisfied  on  account  of  some  presents  he  had  made  to 
his  guides  and  chief  men,  who  had  become  disheartened, 
and  whose  good- will  and  courage  were  so  necessary  to  the 
safety  of  the  expedition.  Having  explained  the  matter 
to  them,  and  promised  to  slay  an  ox  at  the  next  village 
they  reached,  he  imagined  that  harmony  was  restored. 
Some  time  after,  on  recovering  from  a  stupor  induced  by 
fever,  he  found  matters  in  a  worse  state  than  ever.  Feel- 
ing how  necessary  it  was  that  order  should  be  restored,  he 
staggered  from  his  bed  armed  with  his  double-barrelled 
pistol,  and,  partly  by  threats  and  cajolery,  restored  amity 
amongst  them.  Several  days  afterwards  the  exactions 
of  the  Chiboque,  and  the  dangers  with  which  they  were 
daily  beset,  sapped  the  courage  of  his  men  ;  and  they 
demanded  to  be  led  back  to  their  homes,  as  they  saw  no 
hope  of  being  able  to  reach  the  coast.  After  using  all 
his  power  of  persuasion  without  avail,  he  announced  his 
intention,  in  the  event  of  their  deserting  him ,  of  proceed- 


REACHES  THE  VALLEY  OF  THE  QUANGO.  89 


mg  to  his  destination  alone.  This  had  the  desired  effect. 
Some  of  them  made  answer,  "  We  will  never  leave  you. 
Do  not  be  disheartened.  Wherever  you  lead,  we  will 
follow.  Our  remarks  were  made  only  on  account  of  the 
injustice  of  these  people." 

Those  who  had  accompanied  him  all  the  way  said, 
"  They  were  all  my  children  :  they  knew  no  one  but  Sek- 
eletu  and  me,  and  they  would  die  for  me."  At  every  step 
of  his  journey  we  are  called  upon  to  admire  the  wisdom 
and  courage  of  this  heroic  man.  On  many  occasions  the 
slightest  indiscretion  or  rashness  would  have  ruined  the 
expedition,  by  exciting  the  jealous  and  suspicious  nature 
of  the  savage  tribes  ;  and,  when  real  danger  threatened, 
his  cool  and  resolute  bearing — offering  no  violence,  but 
showing  unmistakably,  that,  if  such  were  absolutely  neces- 
sary, it  would  be  forthcoming  —  saved  him  frequently 
from  plunder  and  a  violent  death.  A  man  like  this,  who 
knows  his  own  powers  thoroughly,  and  possesses  the 
unusual  faculty  of  commanding  himself,  his  passions  and 
feelings,  in  all  cases,  illustrates  our  highest  idea  of  what 
"  a  leader  of  men"  should  be.  To  such  men  few  under- 
takings, however  dangerous,  are  impossible  :  their  courage 
and  honesty  conquer  the  stranger,  while  their  followers 
cannot  help  imbibing  these  qualities  to  an  extent  which 
makes  them  capable  of  efforts  they  would  have  shrunk 
from  under  inferior  guidance. 

The  travellers  passed  rapidly  through  the  remainder  of 
their  route  to  the  Quango,  avoiding  villages,  as  the  visit- 
ing of  these  only  led  to  delays,  no  food  being  procurable 
without  making  sacrifices  of  their  now  scanty  necessaries. 
On  passing  a  village,  swarms  of  children  would  rush 
out,  and  run  for  long  distances  alongside  of  them,  view- 
ing them  with  wonder.     They  suffered  greatly  from 

8* 


90 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


hunger ;  but  the  near  prospect  of  reaching  Portuguese 
territory,  and  finding  friends,  kept  them  up,  and  induced 
them  to  strain  every  nerve  to  reach  it  as  speedily  as 
possible. 

On  the  30th  of  March,  when  so  weak  from  fever  and 
hunger  that  he  had  to  be  led  by  his  men  to  prevent  his 
falling,  Livingstone  looked  down  from  the  high  land  upon 
a  valley  about  a  hundred  miles  wide,  through  which  the 
broad  Quango  wound  its  way  to  the  north-west.  This 
great  valley  is  nearly  covered  with  dark  forest,  excepting 
along  the  course  of  the  river,  which  gleamed  here  and 
there  from  the  midst  of  the  green  meadows  which  extend 
a  considerable  way  from  its  banks..  On  the  farther  side 
lofty  mountains  rose  indistinctly  through  the  haze,  while 
the  high  ground  from  which  he  viewed  the  magnificent 
scene  was  about  a  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
stream.  Weary  and  worn  with  want  and  disease,  one 
cannot  adequately  imagine  the  feelings  of  this  remarkable 
man,  as  he  surve}red  the  magnificent  valley  below,  and 
had  his  eyes  refreshed  and  his  blood  exhilarated  by  the 
sight  of  blue  mountain  summits,  after  hundreds  of  miles 
of  travel  through  a  country  all  but  flat.  Beyond  that 
broad  stream  lay  friendly  territory.  A  few  -days  more 
of  trial  and  difficulty,  and  he  would  be  among  a  people 
who  would  aid  him  in  the  completion  of  his  great  enter- 
prise, and  esteem  it  an  honor  to  supply  him  with  the  com- 
forts and  necessities  of  which  he  stood  so  much  in  need. 

The  chiefs  of  Bashinje,  a  people  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
Quango,  made  themselves  as  troublesome  as  possible,  as 
Livingstone  would  neither  give  them  a  man,  nor  one  of  the 
tusks  belonging  to  Sekeletu.  Every  thing  they  had  pos- 
sessed, save  the  tusks  and  his  instruments,  was  gone ; 
and  their  clothes  were  hanging  about  them  in  tatters. 


IN  PORTUGUESE  TERRITORY. 


91 


The  chief,  a  young  man  of  pleasing  countenance,  visited 
Livingstone,  who  showed  him  his  watch  ;  which  so  excited 
his  fear  and  wonder,  that  he  declined  to  see  the  magic- 
lantern  and  his  pocket  compass.  Hunger,  and  the  near 
prospect  of  succor,  had  made  the  whole  party  determined 
to  march  on,  even  if  they  should  have  to  cut  their  way 
through  these  unfriendly  people.  In  answer  to  the 
threats  and  demands  of  the  chief,  he  was  told  firmly  that 
they  "  should  certainty  go  forward  next  day;  and,  if  he 
commenced  hostilities,  the  blame  before  God  would  be 
his ; "  and  Livingstone's  interpreter  added,  of  his  own 
accord,  "  How  many  white  men  have  you  killed  in  this 
path?"  meaning,  "  You  have  never  killed  any  white  man  ; 
and  you  will  find  one  more  difficult  to  manage  than  you 
imagine." 

Arrived  at  the  Quango,  another  Bashinje  chief  insisted 
upon  having  an  ox,  a  man,  or  a  gun,  before  he  would  per- 
mit them  to  be  ferried  across.  Livingstone's  men  stripped 
off  the  last  of  their  copper  rings,  and  gave  them  to  him  ; 
but  he  still  insisted  upon  a  man.  While  in  the  midst  of 
this  difficulty,  a  young  half-caste  Portuguese  sergeant 
of  militia,  Cypriano  di  Abreu,  who  had  crossed  from  the 
other  side  in  search  of  beeswax,  made  his  appearance,  and 
joined  with  Livingstone  in  inducing  his  men  to  go  down 
to  the  river-bank.  There  Cypriano  succeeded  in  arran- 
ging matters  with  the  fereyman  ;  and,  to  their  great  joy, 
they  found  themselves  in  Portuguese  territory.  They 
passed  with  light  hearts  through  the  tall  grass,  which,  in 
the  valley  of  the  Quango,  is  frequently  over  six  feet  in 
height.  Three  miles  to  the  west  of  the  river,  they  came  to 
several  neat  square  houses,  before  which  many  cleanly 
looking  half-caste  militiamen,  part  of  Cyj >riano's  com- 
mand, stood,  and  saluted  them. 


92  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


Livingstone's  tent  was  pitched  in  front  of  Cypriano's 
dwelling ;  and  in  the  morning  his  men  were  graciously 
presented  with  pumpkins  and  maize,  while  Livingstone 
was  entertained  to  a  breakfast,  in  his  dwelling,  of  ground- 
nuts, roasted  maize,  and  boiled  manioc-roots,  with  guavas 
and  honey  as  a  dessert.  "  I  felt  sincerely  grateful,"  sa}Ts 
Livingstone,  "for  such  a  breakfast."  Several  of  Cypri- 
ano's friends  joined  them  at  dinner ;  before  partaking  of 
which,  each  guest  had  water  poured  on  his  hands,  to  wash 
them,  by  a  female  slave. 

One  of  the  guests  cut  up  a  fowl  with  a  knife  and  fork, 
the  only  set  in  the  house  ;  so  they  all  partook  of  the  fowl 
with  their  fingers,  their  hands  being  washed  at  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  dinner,  as  at  the  commencement. 

During  the  few  days  they  remained  with  Cypriano,  he 
killed  an  ox  for  their  entertainment,  and  stripped  his  gar- 
den of  its  produce  to  feed  them  ;  nor  did  his  kindness  end 
here,  as  he  furnished  them  with  as  much  food  as  would 
serve  them  during  the  four  or  five  days'  journey  to  Cas- 
sange. 

All  these  half-caste  militiamen  could  read  and  write : 
they  were  Roman  Catholics,  but  knew  nothing  about  the 
Bible.  The  militia  are  quartered  among  the  Ban  gala, 
the  people  of  the  district,  on  account  of  their  having  at 
one  time  made  themselves  troublesome  to  the  Portuguese 
traders,  killing  one  of  them.  When  the  government  of 
Angola  had  reduced  them  to  obedience,  the  militia  were 
established  amongst  them  to  enforce  their  good  behavior. 
These  militia  receive  no  pay,  but  maintain  themselves  by 
trade  and  agriculture. 

As  the  party  had  crossed  several  streams,  and  had 
marched  for  miles  among  wet  grass  which  grew  two  feet 
over  their  heads,  they  had  a  very  forlorn  appearance  as 


LIVINGSTONE  ENTERS  CASSANGE.  93 


they  entered  Cassange,  the  farthest  east  Portuguese  set- 
tlement, and  presented  themselves  to  the  gaze  of  civilized 
men.  The  first  gentleman  Livingstone  met  asked  him  for 
his  passport,  "  and  said  it  was  necessary  to  take  me 
before  the  authorities.  As  I  was  in  the  same  state  of  mind 
in  which  individuals  are  who  commit  a  petty  depredation 
in  order  to  obtain  the  shelter  and  food  of  a  prison,  I  gladly 
accompanied  him  to  the  house  of  the  commandant,  Senor 
de  Silva  Rego.  Having  shown  '  my  passport  (letters 
of  recommendation  from  the  Chevalier  Du  Prat  of  Cape 
Town)  to  the  gentleman,  he  politely  asked  me  to  supper ; 
and,  as  we  had  eaten  nothing  except  the  farina  of  Cypri- 
ano  from  the  Quango  to  this,  I  suspect  I  appeared  par- 
ticularly ravenous  to  the  other  gentlemen  around  the 
table."  One  can  readily  sympathize  with  him  when  he 
adds,  "  Had  they  not  been  present,  I  might  have  put  some 
in  my  pocket  to  eat  by  night ;  for,  after  fever,  the  appe- 
tite is  unusually  keen,  and  manioc  is  one  of  the  most 
unsatisfying  kinds  of  food."  One  of  the  guests,  Capt. 
Antonio  Rodrigues  Neves,  took  the  worn  and  exhausted 
traveller  to  his  house  with  him,  where  he  remained  during 
his  stay,  and  presented  him  with  a  decent  suit  of  clothing. 
This  kindly  man  also  furnished  food  for  the  famishing 
party. 

The  Portuguese  traders  in  Cassange  numbered  about 
forty,  and  were  all  officers  in  the  militia.  They  were  ex- 
ceedingly kind  to  the  colored  people  about  them,  their 
half-caste  and  full-colored  clerks  and  assistants  in  the 
business  sitting  at  table  with  them.  None  of  them  had 
European  wives  with  them ;  but  most  of  them  had  fami- 
lies by  native  women,  whom  they  treated  with  every  kind- 
ness and  consideration,  and  seldom  or  never  desert  them, 
hut  provide  for  them  as  if  they  were  Europeans. 


94  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


At  Cassange  the  tusks  belonging  to  Sekeletu  were  sold ; 
and  as  two  muskets,  three  small  barrels  of  gunpowder, 
and  English  baize  and  calico  sufficient  to  clothe  the  whole 
party,  with  several  large  bunches  of  beads,  were  received 
for  one  tusk,  Livingstone's  companions  were  quite  de- 
lighted ;  as,  in  their  own  country,  they  only  received  one 
gun  for  two  tusks.  Another  tusk  was  sold  for  calico 
with  which  to  pay  their  way  to  the  coast,  as  it  is  the 
chief  currency  of  the  district ;  and  the  remaining  two 
were  sold  for  money  to  buy  a  horse  for  Sekeletu  at 
Loanda. 

Livingstone  was  astonished  to  find  that  the  traders  at 
Cassange  had  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  country,  and 
the  courses  of  the  rivers,  far  to  the  east,  although  this 
information  had  never  appeared  on  a  European  map. 

The  commander  handsomely  sent  a  soldier  with  the 
party,  as  a  guide,  to  Ambaca,  entertained  Livingstone  to  a 
farewell  dinner,  and  presented  his  companions  with  an  ox 
to  regale  themselves  with.  The  merchants  accompanied 
him  some  distance  in  hammocks  carried  by  slaves  ;  and, 
having  given  him  letters  of  introduction  to  their  friends 
in  Loanda,  they  parted  with  mutual  expressions  of  good- 
will. Livingstone's  guide  was  a  man  of  color,  a  native 
of  Ambaca,  and  a  full  corporal  in  the  militia.  He  was 
attended  by  three  slaves,  two  of  whom  carried  his  ham- 
mock, in  which  he  alwa}7s  reclined  in  state  on  entering 
and  leaving  a  village :  the  third  slave  carried  a  box 
which  contained  his  dishes,  clothing,  and  writing-materi- 
als ;  for  he  could  both  read  and  write,  sis  nearly  all  his 
brethren  could.  Although  a  pure  native  himself,  when 
he  lost  temper  in  dealing  with  any  of  his  slaves,  he  called 
him  a  "  negro,"  as  if  he  meant  it  as  a  term  of  reproach. 

Crossing  the  high  lands  which  bounded  the  Quango 


ARRIVAL  AT  AMBACA. 


95 


valley  to  the  west,  Livingstone  found  no  difficulty  in  pro- 
curing abundance  of  food  from  the  inhabitants  of  the 
numerous  villages,  in  exchange  for  pieces  of  calico,  and 
beads.  The  rains  and  night  dews  brought  on  another 
attack  of  fever  ;  and  a  considerable  portion  of  the  journey 
was  made  in  pain  and  misery.  The  skin  of  his  body 
became  abraded  in  various  places  ;  and  his  strong  courage 
almost  failed  him  even  when  the  hour  of  his  success  was 
so  near  at  hand. 

Arrived  at  Ambaca,  Livingstone  was  hospitably  enter- 
tained by  the  commandant,  who  recommended  wine  for 
his  debility ;  and  here  he  took  the  first  glass  of  that 
beverage  he  had  taken  in  Africa.  While  sleeping  in  the 
house  of  the  commandant,  he  was  bitten  by  an  insect 
called  the  tampan,  a  kind  of  tick,  which  ranges  in  size 
from  a  pin's  head  to  a  pea.  It  invariably  attacks  the 
parts  between  the  toes,  sucking  the  blood  till  quite  full. 
Its  bite  is  poisonous,  and  causes  a  sensation  of  pain  and 
itching,  which  passes  up  the  limb  until  it  reaches  the 
abdomen,  when  it  causes  purging  and  retching.  When 
these  effects  do  not  follow,  fever  often  sets  in,  which  fre- 
quently results  in  death.  Before  starting,  the  command- 
ant gave  them  two  militia  soldiers  as  guides,  to  replace 
their  Cassange  corporal,  who  left  them  here ;  and  pro- 
vided the  party  with  as  much  bread  and  meat  as  would 
serve  them  until  they  reached  the  next  station.  With 
characteristic  liberality,  Livingstone  tells  us  that  the 
ability  of  so  many  of  the  people  of  Ambaca  to  read  and 
write  4 '  is  the  fruit  of  the  labors  of  the  Jesuit  and  Capu- 
chin missionaries,  for  they  taught  the  people  of  Ambaca  ; 
and,  ever  since  the  expulsion  of  the  teachers  by  the 
Marquis  of  Pombal,  the  natives  have  continued  to  teach 
each  other.    These  devoted  men  are  held  in  high  estima- 


96  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

tion  throughout  the  country  to  this  day.  All  speak  well 
of  them ;  and,  now  that  they  are  gone  from  this  lower 
sphere,  I  could  not  help  wishing  that  their  own  Roman 
Catholic  fellow-Christians  had  felt  it  their  duty  to  give 
the  people  the  Bible,  to  be  a  light  to  their  feet  when  the 
good  men  themselves  were  gone." 

Nothing  of  note  occurred  during  the  remainder  of  the 
journey.  The  Portuguese,  without  exception,  treated  the 
party  with  the  utmost  consideration  and  kindness,  which 
was  all  the  more  gratifying  to  him  on  account  of  his 
debilitated  condition.  Parties  of  Mambari  were  met,  who 
did  not  seem  pleased  at  finding  Makololo  men  so  far  from 
their  native  Zambesi,  and  so  near  a  market  where  they 
would  discover  the  true  value  of  their  elephants'  tusks. 
The}7  tried  to  induce  them  to  return,  by  repeating  the 
legend  that  the  white  men  lived  in  the  sea,  and  that  harm 
would  happen  to  them.  But  Livingstone's  companions 
were  now  proof  against  such  fables  ;  and  although  full  of 
wonder  and  doubt  as  to  the  new  world  they  were  about 
to  enter,  and  the  treatment  they  might  receive,  they 
determined  to  stand  by  him  to  the  last. 

On  catching  their  first  glimpse  of  the  sea,  the  astonish- 
ment of  his  companions  was  boundless.  Speaking  of  their 
first  sight  of  it,  on  their  return  to  their  friends,  they  said, 
4  c  We  marched  along  with  our  father,  believing  that  what 
the  ancients  had  always  told  us  was  true,  that  the  world 
had  no  end  ;  but,  all  at  once,  the  world  said  to  us,  c  I  am 
finished  :  there  is  no  more  of  me.'  " 

There  was  only  one  Englishman  in  Loanda,  which  has 
a  population  of  twelve  thousand  souls,  —  Mr.  Gabriel, 
ihe  British  commissioner  for  the  suppression  of  the  slave- 
trade  ;  and  he  gave  his  countrjanan  a  warm  welcome. 
He  had  sent  an  invitation  to  meet  him  on  the  way  from 


ARRIVES  AT  LOAN  DA. 


97 


Cassange,  whence  intelligence  of  the  arrival  of  an  Eng- 
lishman from  the  interior  of  Africa  —  a  region  from 
which  no  Englishman  had  ever  before  come — had  reached 
Loanda  ;  but  it  had  missed  him  on  the  way.  After  par- 
taking of  refreshments,  and  noticing  how  ill  his  guest 
looked,  he  conducted  him  to  bed.  4 'Never  shall  I 
forget,"  says  he,  u  the  luxuriant  pleasure  I  enjoyed  in 
feeling  myself  again  on  a  good  English  couch,  after  six 
months'  sleeping  on  the  ground.  I  was  soon  asleep  ;  and 
Mr.  Gabriel,  coming  in  almost  immediately,  rejoiced  at 
the  soundness  of  my  repose." 

He  had  achieved  his  purpose :  the  mystery  of  South 
Africa  was  solved.  Instead  of  being  a  vast,  barren 
desert,  he  had  found  it  to  be  a  populous  and  fertile  region, 
watered  by  splendid  streams  navigable  for  hundreds  of 
miles,  abounding  in  game  of  all  kinds,  and  inhabited  by 
tribes  capable  of  benefiting  from  the  civilizing  and  hu- 
manizing influences  of  honest  commerce,  and  the  teach- 
ing of  the  gospel.  What  are  the  triumphs  of  arms 
compared  with  the  great  work  this  heroic  man  had 
achieved?  On  these  vast,  fertile  plains,  there  is  room  for 
millions  of  human  beings  living  peaceful  and  industrious 
lives.  Is  it  too  much  to  hope,  that,  within  a  period  not 
very  remote,  the  tribes  of  South  and  Central  Africa  will 
have  become  all  that  he  believes  them  capable  of  becom- 
ing, and  that  they  will  hold  in  reverence  the  undaunted 
Englishman  who  first  introduced  them  and  their  country 
to  the  civilized  world  ? 

Livingstone  and  his  party  started  from  Linyanti  on  the 
11th  of  November,  1853,  and  reached  Loanda  on  the  31st 
of  l\Jay,  1854,  the  journey  thus  occupjing  something 
more  than  six  months  ;  during  which  period  none  of  his 
friends,  either  savage  or  civilized,  heard  any  thing  of 

9 


98  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

lim.  He  had  disappeared  into  the  wilderness  ;  and,  like 
many  more  daring  spirits,  it  was  supposed  that  he  had 
fallen  a  victim  to  the  climate,  or  the  cruelty  of  some 
savage  chief.  Not  the  least  remarkable  fact  connected 
with  his  journey  was,  that  he  had  not  lost  a  man  in  the 
long  and  toilsome  journey ;  and,  as  we  shall  see,  he  was 
equally  fortunate  in  returning. 

Instead  of  burning  and  parched  plains,  he  had  found, 
as  he  had  shrewdly  suspected  he  would,  that  with  the 
exception  of  a  portion  of  the  Bechuana  country,  and  the 
Kalahari  desert,  the  vast  country  between  the  confines  of 
civilization  at  Kuruman,  and  St.  Paul  de  Loanda  on  the 
west  coast,  and,  from  all  he  could  see  and  learn  of  the 
northern  watersheds,  equally  vast  districts  to  the  north  of 
his  line  of  march,  —  were  seamed  with  river-courses,  which 
poured  their  waters  into  magnificent  streams  which  found 
their  way  to  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  Oceans,  and  were,  for 
many  hundred  miles  of  their  course,  navigable  for  flat- 
bottomed  vessels.  The  long  rainy  season  gave  to  the 
earth  a  fertility  which  the  abundant  animal  life  of  these 
districts  could  not  master ;  and  the  tall  grass  lay  rotting 
on  the  ground  in  the  flooded  districts,  a  tangled  mass 
impeding  the  progress  of  the  traveller,  the  dense  swaths 
of  which  were  used,  by  the  various  species  of  antelopes, 
for  hiding  their  young  from  their  numerous  enemies. 

The  introduction  of  improved  agriculture,  and  European 
merchandise,  together  with  moral  and  religious  instruc- 
tion, is  only  required  to  make  this  region  the  home  of 
millions  of  happy  and  contented  human  beings.  The 
annual  inundations,  which  for  a  period  submerge  the  low- 
lying  plains,  the  stagnant  water,  from  which  proceed 
deadly  fevers,  with  proper  skill  and  appliances  could  be 
made  the  regenerator  of  the  country.    Irrigation  would 


AT  LOAN  DA. 


99 


carry  the  superabundant  water  to  vast  tracts  of  land  at 
present  unproductive ;  and  the  increase  in  the  herds  of 
cattle  would  eat  up  the  vegetation  which  at  present,  for  a 
certain  period  of  the  year,  lies  rotting  in  the  sun.  Save 
in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the  rivers  and  swamps, 
the  natives  are  subject  to  fewer  diseases  than  Europeans. 
Jn  return  for  the  comforts  and  industrial  appliances  of 
civilized  life,  they  could  give  cotton,  indigo,  skins,  ivory, 
&c.  ;  and  a  legitimate  and  mutually  helpful  trade  of  this 
kind,  with  the  civilized  centres  of  the  world,  would  do 
more  in  ten  years  towards  the  suppression  of  the  traffic 
in  human  flesh  than  all  the  money  Great  Britain  has 
spent  for  this  object  since  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  hei 
dependencies.  , 

Of  wild  animals,  birds,  and  insects,  he  found  no  lack  ; 
and,  in  each  of  these  departments  of  animal  life,  his  obser- 
vations enabled  him  to  add  several  new  species  and  vari- 
eties. Game  being  abundant,  the  different  species  of 
African  felines  were  numerous,  and  frequently  met  with. 
Lions,  leopards,  tiger-cats,  hyenas,  jackals,  and  herds  of 
game,  were  always  to  be  found  in  the  neighborhood  of 
water.  With  the  exception  of  the  attack  on  one  of  his  men 
by  a  crocodile  in  crossing  a  creek  in  the  Leeambye,  and  a 
bite  received  by  another  from  a  non-poisonous  snake  near 
the  Leeba,  the  party  did  not  suffer  any  inconvenience 
from  the  ferce  naturae  of  the  district. 

This  great  district  he  found  as  thickly  populated  as  the 
Bechuana  country  by  tribes  ranking  high,  among  savages, 
in  intelligence  ;  who,  in  the  main,  led  peaceable  and  blame- 
less lives,  cultivating  their  gardens,  feeding  their  cattle, 
catching  the  fish  in  the  rivers,  and  hunting  the  game  of 
the  plains,  and  cherishing  traditions  of  wise  and  dis- 
tinguished forefathers  of  their  tribes.    To  the  west, 


100  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


through  their  connection  with  the  slave-traders  of  the 
coast,  and  the  evil  passions  which  Invariably  follow  this 
inhuman  traffic,  he  found  a  people  who  had  lost  the 
peaceful  and  patriarchal  simplicity  of  their  brethren  of  the 
interior  ;  but  amongst  them  he  found  wise  and  intelligent 
chiefs  and  head  men,  with  whom  it  appeared  to  him  eas}', 
given  the  opportunity  of  bringing  the  proper  teaching  and 
experience  before  them  through  missionary  and  commer- 
cial effort,  to  introduce  a  purer  and  nobler  life. 

Livingstone  speaks  somewhat  contemptuously  of  the 
courage  and  appearance  of  the  lion.  He  likens  its  appear- 
ance, in  its  native  haunts,  to  that  of  a  large  dog  ;  and  says 
that,  if  met  in  the  da}',  it  slouches  off  until  it  reaches  some 
distance,  when  it  increases  its  progress  to  a  gallop.  It 
never  attacks  a  man  boldly,  and  only  does  so  when  it  can 
pounce  on  a  man  unseen.  It  only  becomes  the  aggressor 
when  wounded,  or  brought  to  bajr ;  and  then  its  attack  is 
formidable,  as  is  that  of  much  smaller  members  of  the 
feline  order.  The  Bengal  tiger  he  considers  to  be  a  much 
more  powerful  and  terrible  animal.  A  single  lion  has  no 
chance  with  a  buffalo,  which  defends  itself,  or  boldljT  at- 
tacks the  lion,  with  its  head  and  hoofs.  The  true  king 
of  the  African  wilderness  is  the  rhinoceros.  The  ele- 
phant, which  cares  no  more  for  the  near  neighborhood  of 
a  lion  than  it  does  for  an  antelope,  strides  away  on  the 
approach  of  the  rhinoceros.  The  formidable  horn  (or 
horns,  for  some  varieties  have  more  than  one)  which 
adorns  its  snout,  in  an  attack  is  plunged  into  the  body  of 
the  animal  it  engages  ;  and,  as  it  can  split  up  a  tree  of  a 
foot  diameter  with  this  terrible  weapon,  the  consequences 
of  a  thrust  from  it  to  the  larger  animals  may  be  readily 
imagined.  The  buffalo,  when  wounded,  is  a  dangerous 
antagonist  to  the  hunter,  as  its  rush  is  both  sudden  and 


DIFFERENT  SPECIES  OF  ANTELOPES.  101 


resistless.  The  herds  are  accompanied  by  a  bird  called 
the  ox  or  buffalo  bird,  which  flies  around  them,  settling 
on  their  backs,  and  feeding  on  the  ticks  which  swarm 
amongst  their  hair,  or  the  larvae  of  insects  which  are  em- 
bedded in  their  skins.  Elephants  were  met  with  in  pro- 
digious numbers  ;  and  their  presence,  and  that  of  the  zebra 
and  the  quagga,  on  the  sandy  plains,  was  alwa}7s  hailed 
with  joy,  as  indicating  the  near  neighborhood  of  water. 

In  addition  to  the  various  species  of  antelopes  knoiro 
to  us  which  roam  in  vast  herds  on  the  African  plains, 
many  of  them  appearing  to  be  almost  independent  of 
water,  —  the  handsome  eland,  the  fierce-looking  gnu,  the 
beautiful  and  elegant  koodoo,  the  springbok,  with  its 
gazelle-like  limbs  and  stout  body,  countless  herds  of 
which  scour  the  plains  from  place  to  place,  and  many 
others,  — Livingstone  met  with  several  hitherto  unknown 
varieties  and  species.  In  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Zouga,  he  met  with  a  new  species  of  water-buck,  called 
the  leche,  with  fine  ringed  horns  bending  outwards  and 
inwards  like  those  of  the  water-buck  of  the  Bechuana 
country.  The  chest,  the  belly,  and  a  patch  round  the  eyes, 
are  nearly  white ;  the  body  and  upper  parts  are  light 
brown  ;  while  the  limbs  are  of  a  darker  hue  than  the  body. 
The  male  has  a  light-brown  mane.  It  is  never  seen  above 
a  mile  from  the  marshy  ground  in  the  neighborhood  of 
rivers  ;  and  it  is  only  found  in  the  central  districts  of  the 
country.  Another  water-buck,  called  the  nakong,  he  also 
found  in  Central  Africa.  It  is  more  clumsy  in  its  build, 
and  is  larger  than  the  former  species.  Its  great  length  of 
foot  (nearly  twelve  inches)  enables  it  to  walk  with  ease  in 
the  boggy  morasses  which  it  frequents.  It  has  very  hand- 
some twisted  horns,  and  is  of  a  grayish-  brown  color. 
When  the  natives  hunt  it,  it  takes  to  the  water ;  and,  as  it 

9* 


102  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


only  keeps  the  point  of  its  nose  above  the  surface,  it  is 
somewhat  difficult  to  catch.  In  the  valley  of  the  Leeain- 
bye,  great  numbers  of  a  beautiful  and  graceful  antelope, 
standing  about  eighteen  inches  high,  were  met  with.  The 
natives  name  it  tranydne.  It  is  of  a  brownish-reel  color, 
the  under  parts  being  wrhite.  It  is  a  very  timid  animal 
unless  while  it  is  rearing  its  young,  when  it  will  do  battle 
with  a  man  if  he  should  approach  it.  A  new  variety  of 
eland,  differing  only  from  the  one  already  known  in  the 
light-colored  stripes  down  the  sides,  and  across  the  bocly, 
was  also  discovered  in  the  Leeambye  valley.  In  the 
interior,  the  antelopes  were  so  tame,  and  their  beauty  and 
graceful  appearance  made  so  much  impression  upon  Liv- 
ingstone, that  he  felt  serious  compunctions  about  shooting 
them,  even  when  they  were  required  for  food  for  his  party. 
This  feeling  prevented  him  from  killing  any  of  them  wan- 
tonly ;  although  if  a  mere  love  of  slaughter,  in  the  name  of 
sport,  had  been  his  object,  he  might  have  shot  hundreds 
of  them. 

The  number  and  variety  of  rodents,  both  land  and 
aquatic,  furnish  food  for  the  smaller  felines,  and  several 
species  of  snakes,  poisonous  and  non-poisonous.  Of 
these,  several  varieties  of  pythons  are  common,  one  of 
which  attains  a  great  size.  It  is  known  as  the  fatal 
python.  The  smaller  antelopes  fall  victims  to  this 
species.  A  species  of  cobra,  known  as  the  naji  of  Egypt, 
and  the  puff-adder,  is  much  dreaded.  Livingstone  had  a 
narrow  escape  from  a  poisonous  snake  on  one  occasion. 
Having  trampled  upon  it  in  the  dark,  it  wound  itself 
round  his  leg.  The  vigor  of  his  leap,  caused  by  the 
fright,  fortunately  shook  it  off  before  it  could  fasten  its 
fangs  in  his  limb. 

Several  varieties  of  mice  were  very  abundant.  One 


ANIMAL  LIFE  OF  CENTRAL  AFRICA.  103 


raises  little  haycocks  over  its  burrow,  long  stretches  of  the 
Kalahari  desert  being  dotted  with  them.  Its  shallow  bur- 
rows are  so  plentiful,  and  so  near  the  surface,  that  walk- 
ing is  a  matter  of  difficulty.  Several  small  species  of 
snakes  are  alwaj^s  numerous  near  these  mouse-colonies. 

Hippopotami,  crocodiles,  and  various  kinds  of  lizards, 
were  numerous.  Land-turtles  were  plentiful,  and  were 
greatly  prized.  The  ostrich  was  common  on  the  sandy 
plains  to  the  south :  it  is  hunted  by  the  Bushmen  for  its 
flesh,  and  its  fine  plume  of  feathers.  Its  eggs  are  eagerly 
sought  after,  and  are  accounted  a  great  delicacy.  The 
shells  we  have  already  spoken  of  as  being  used  for  hold- 
ing water  in  the  Kalahari  desert.  The  secretary-bird 
stalked  about  in  the  dry,  arid  plains,  searching  for  the 
snakes  on  which  it  feeds.  The  sacred  ibis,  several  varie- 
ties of  cranes,  herons,  spoonbills,  fish-hawks,  kingfishers, 
&c,  abounded  along  the  main  rivers.  The  beautiful 
jacana,  witlf  its  long  claws,  darting  nimbly  over  the 
broad  leaves  of  aquatic  plants,  appeared  to  be  walking 
on  the  water.  Pigeons  and  turtle-doves,  canaries,  honey- 
birds,  and  a  vast  variety  of  other  feathered  songsters, 
made  the  lone  forests  vocal  with  their  music.  Weaver- 
birds  sewed  the  long  leaves  together,  with  the  threads  of 
the  spider's  web,  to  form  their  nests  ;  and  the  small  bee- 
eater,  and  various  species  of  martins,  flashed  over  the 
broad  rivers,  darting  in  and  out  of  their  nests  in  the 
bank. 

Several  varieties  of  ants  were  abundant  everywhere,  the 
vast  plains  being  dotted  with  the  conical  mounds  raised 
by  this  curious  and  industrious  creature ;  some  of  them 
attaining  to  a  height  of  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet,  and 
double  that  in  width  at  the  base,  even  trees  growing  plen- 
tifully upon  them,  and  native  huts  finding  a  secure  foun- 
dation upon  their  firin  surfaces. 


104  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.Q. 


Spiders  abounded,  both  in  the  north  and  the  south,  of 
every  conceivable  color,  shape,  and  size.  Among  theBec- 
huanas,  a  black,  hairy  spider,  about  an  inch  and  a  quarter 
long,  had  a  curious  process  at  the  end  of  each  of  the  fore- 
claws  like  that  at  the  end  of  the  tail  of  the  scorpion. 
When  the  insect  seizes  hold  of  any  living  object  with 
these  claws,  an  irritating  poison  is  exuded.  Several  leap- 
ing spiders  are  found  all  over  the  country ;  they  leap 
upon  their  prey  from  a  distance  of  twelve  inches.  The 
most  common  variety  is  of  a  reddish  hue,  and  is  about  an 
inch  and  a  half  in  length. 

The  most  singular  species  is  called  selali.  It  burrows 
in  the  ground,  making  a  perpendicular  hole  about  the  size 
of  a  shilling,  which  it  covers  with  a  door  of  about  the 
same  size,  working  on  a  hinge.  This  door,  which  on  the 
under  side  appears  to  be  made  of  silky-white  paper,  is 
covered  with  sand  on  the  upper  side,  which  is  attached  to 
it  by  a  viscid  substance  it  exudes  from  its  body. 

A  yellow-spotted  spider,  over  an  inch  in  length,  makes 
a  web  a  yard  square,  which  it  suspends  from  the  branch 
of  a  tree.  The  lines  of  the  web  are  as  thick  as  common 
thread.  Another  novel  variety  weaves  a  large  number  of 
webs  at  right  angles  to  each  other.  These  are  so  numer- 
ous, and  so  crowded  together,  as  frequently  to  hide  the  tree 
or  hedge  to  which  they  are  suspended. 

Livingstone  was  bitten  on  the  brow  and  hand,  while  in 
the  Balonda  country,  by  a  poisonous  black  spider,  an  inch 
and  a  quarter  in  length,  which  woke  him,  during  the  night, 
by  crawling  over  his  brow.  On  raising  his  hand  to  wipe 
it  olf,  it  bit  his  brow  and  hand  severely,  causing  consider- 
able inconvenience  for  a  time. 

The  scavenger-beetle  is  a  very  useful  animal  to  the 
Bechuana  tribes.    It  feeds  on  animal  excretions,  and  all 


THE  ANT-BEAR, 


105 


kinds  of  carrion.  It  rolls  away  the  round  pellets  of  ante- 
lope and  goat  dung,  and,  having  taken  it  to  a  soft  spot, 
digs  the  loose  earth  from  below  it  until  it  is  sunk  below 
the  surface.  It  then  deposits  its  eggs  in  the  mass  ;  and, 
when  the  larvae  are  hatched,  they  feed  upon  their  nests 
until  they  are  able  to  shift  for  themselves. 

Ant-eaters,  four-footed  and  winged,  are  numerous. 
The  ant-lion  has  much  the  appearance  of  our  dragon-fly, 
but  is  larger.  It  forms  a  pitfall  on  a  route  likety  to  be 
used  by  ants,  into  which  they  stumble,  and  become  a  prey 
to  it.  Another  insect,  about  an  inch  and  a  half  long, 
having  somewhat  the  appearance  of  an  earwig,  feeds  on 
ants.  Thrusting  its  head  into  a  hole,  it  moves  the  forceps 
in  its  tail  with  a  quivering  motion  ;  and,  when  an  ant  ap- 
proaches to  gratify  its  curiosity,  it  is  snapped  up  by  the 
forceps. 

Several  varieties  of  ant-eaters  proper,  with  their  strong 
claws,  break  open  the  ant-hills,  and  lick  up  the  insects 
with  great  rapidity  with  their  extensile  tongues.  The 
point  of  the  tongue  exudes  a  viscid  substance  to  which 
the  ants  adhere ;  which  greatly  facilitates  the  work  of 
destruction.  The  ant-bear  is  the  most  singular-looking 
of. the  ant-eaters.  Its  body  is  round  as  a  ball,  and  cov- 
ered with  a  thick,  hairless  skin ;.  the  head  is  small,  and 
the  snout  elongated.  The  tapering  tail  is  so  thick  at  the 
base,  as  to  appear  to  be  an  extension  of  the  body.  The 
fore-limbs  and  claws  are  very  strong.  A  full-grown  speci- 
men will  weigh  a  hundred  pounds.  It  has  no  teeth,  and 
is  a  harmless  creature  ;  although,  when  attacked  by  the 
smaller  felines,  it  proves  more  than  a  match  for  them,  if 
it  manages  to  get  its  strong  limbs  and  claws  round  its 
assailant's  neck.  Its  strong  skin  prevents  it  from  receiv« 
ing  very  serious  damage  at  the  first  onset. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


BTiT   AT    LOANDA.  STARTS    ON   RETURN  JOURNI Y. — •  DR. 

LIVINGSTONE    AGAIN     ATTACKED    WITH     FEVER.    THE 

MAKOLOLO  SUFFER  FROM   SICKNESS.   DESCENT    OF  THE 

LEEBA  AND  LEEAMBYE.   ARRIVAL  AT  LINYANTI. 

As  Livingstone's  illness  was  of  so  serious  a  nature  as 
to  require  a  considerable  period  of  rest  and  treatment,  ho 
remained  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Gabriel,  where  he  was 
treated  with  ever}'  kindness  and  attention  ;  nor  was  the 
comfort  and  well-being  of  his  attendants  forgotten.  Mr. 
Gabriel  presented  them  with  red  caps,  and  striped  cotton 
jackets,  in  which  costume  they  were  presented  by  Dr. 
Livingstone  to  the  bishop,  who  was  acting  as  provisional 
governor.  The  bishop,  who  cook  a  warm  interest  in  Liv- 
ingstone and  his  attendants,  gave  the  latter  the  right  of  a 
free  passage  to  Loancla  whenever  the}'  might  wish  to 
return.  Two  British  ships  of  war,  engaged  in  the  sup- 
pression of  the  slave-trade,  having  come  into  the  harbor, 
their  commanders,  Capt.  Skine  and  Commander  Beding- 
field,  invited  the  party  to  visit  their  ships.  -  Nearly  the 
whole  of  them  went,  although  filled  with  misgivings  as  to 
what  might  befall  them.  The  kindness  of  the  sailors, 
who  gave  them  a  share  of  their  dinners,  put  them  at  their 
ease.  The  firing-off  of  a  cannon  gave  them  a. high  idea 
of  the  power  and  determination  of  the  countrymen  of  Liv- 
ingstone in  their  endeavor  to  put  down  slavey.  The  size 
of  the  ships  filled  them  with  amazement.    "It  is  not  a 

106 


MAKOLOLO  MAKE  THEMSELVES  USEFUL.  107 

canoe,  it  is  a  town,"  they  said  of  the  brig  of  war ;  6t  and 
what  sort  of  a  town  is  this  which  you  must  climb  up  into 
with  a  rope  ?  " 

The  respect  in  which  Livingstone  was  held  by  every  one 
in  authority  increased  their  reverence  for  him,  and  added 
to  their  own  importance  as  the  servants  and  companions 
of  a  man  of  so  high  an  authorit}7  among  white  men.  This 
tended  to  increase  their  devotion  to  him ;  and,  as  this  and 
the  other  wonders  they  saw  did  not  lose  in  the  rehearsing 
to  their  friends  on  the  Chobe  and  the  Leeambye,  the  influ- 
ence of  Livingstone,  among  the  tribes  of  Central  Africa, 
was  greatly  increased. 

Compassionating  Livingstone's  emaciated  condition, 
Capt.  Bedingfield,  of  H.  M.  S.  "  Pluto,"  who  was  re- 
turning to  England  on  board  "  The  Forerunner,"  an 
African  mail-steamer,  in  consequence  of  the  shattered 
state  of  his  health,  which  had  suffered  through  a  long  and 
arduous  service  on  the  coast,  offered  him  a  passage  home. 
This  kind  offer,  Livingstone,  true  to  his  idea  of  duty,  was 
compelled  to  decline.  The  twenty-seven  subjects  of  Seke- 
letu  had  come  thus  far  with  him  on  the  understanding  that 
he  should  take  them  back  again  to  their  own  country,  if 
that  were  possible.  In  addition  to  this,  he  felt  that  the 
long  land-journey  through  swamps  and  forests,  from  the 
Leeba  to  the  Quango,  made  the  passage  from  the  centre 
of  the  continent  to  the  west  coast  one  of  extreme  diffi- 
culty ;  and  he  had  already  begun  to  dream  of  a  more 
easy  route  clown  the  valley  of  the  Zambesi  to  the  east 
coast,  which  he  could  explore  on  his  return  to  Linyanti. 

During  his  convalescence,  his  attendants,  of  their  own 
accord,  employed  themselves  in  gathering  firewood  in  the 
neighboring  forest,  which  they  sold  in  the  town.  Through 
the  interest  of  Mr.  Gabriel,  who  was  delighted  with  this 


108  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


evidence  of  their  industrious  habits,  they  were  employed 
in  unloading  a  coal- vessel,  which  had  come  from  England^ 
at  sixpence  a  day.  In  speaking  of  this  to  their  friends 
on  their  return,  they  endeavored  to  convey  some  idea  of 
the  size  of  the  vessel  by  stating  that  they  had  ' '  labored 
every  day,  from  sunrise  to  sunset,  for  a  moon  and  a  half, 
unloading,  as  quickly  as  they  could,  stones  that  burn,  and 
were  tired  out,  still  leaving  plenty  in  her."  The  money 
they  earned  was  spent  in  purchasing  clothing  and  orna- 
ments to  take  back  with  them  to  their' own  country  ;  their 
good  sense  being  shown  in  selecting  plain,  strong  calico, 
instead  of  the  more  colored  and  flaring  fabrics. 

Through  the  intelligent  kindness  of  the  authorities  and 
merchants  at  Loanda,  the  expedition  left  that  place  hand- 
somely provided  with  comforts  and  necessities.  The  au- 
thorities sent  a  colonel's  uniform  and  a  horse  for  Sekeletu, 
and  gave  suits  of  clothing  to  all  the  men.  The  public 
subscription  among  the  merchants  provided  two  donkeys, 
in  the  hope  of  introducing  the  ass  into  districts  where  its 
insensibility  to  the  poison  of  the  tsetse  would  make  it 
invaluable  as  a  beast  of  burden.  His  man-of-war  friends 
provided  Livingstone  with  a  good  new  tent,  manufactured 
by  the  crew  of  "  The  Philomel."  Livingstone  provided 
each  man  with  a  musket,  and  procured  a  good  stock  of 
ammunition,  beads,  and  cotton  cloth.  They  set  out 
on  the  20th  of  September,  1854,  having  remained  at 
Loanda  nearly  four  months.  Their  baggage  was  as 
heavy  as  it  was  valuable  ;  and  they  were  much  beholden 
to  the  bishop,  who  furnished  them  with  twenty  carriers, 
to  assist  them  to  the  nearest  station,  and  ordered  the 
commandants  of  the  districts  they  had  to  pass  through  to 
give  Livingstone  and  his  party  all  needful  help. 

The  hard,  dry  ground  tried  the  feet  of  his  attendants 


A  SUCCESSFUL  PLAN  TUB. 


109 


severely ;  and  on  account  of  this,  and  an  attack  of  ma- 
laria from  which  several  of  them  suffered,  their  progress 
was  slow.  Towards  the  middle  of  December,  thej 
reached  the  estate  of  Col.  Pires,  which  is  situated  to  the 
south  of  the  Lucalla,  one  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Coan- 
za,  in  the  district  of  Pungo  Andongo  ;  where  he  learned, 
to  his  great  sorrow  and  regret,  that  "The  Forerunner" 
was  lost,  and  that  his  despatches,  journals,  and  maps, 
had  gone  to  the  bottom  with  her.  It  was  matter  for  con- 
gratulation to  him  that  his  friend,  Capt.  Bedingfield,  was 
among  the  saved ;  and  with  characteristic  energy  he  set 
to  work,  while  under  the  hospitable  roof  of  Col.  Pires,  to 
re-write  his  journal.  Col.  Pires  had  two  estates,  and 
was  the  most  energetic  and  successful  planter  of  the  dis- 
trict. His  slaves,  in  consequence  of  being  so  well 
treated,  might  readity,  from  their  zeal  and  efficient  ser- 
vice, have  been  taken  for  free  servants.  Through  his  exer- 
tions, the  district  has  become  the  garden  of  Angola, 
producing  abundant  crops  of  figs,  grapes,  wheat,  butter, 
cheese,  &c.  Coming  to  the  country  as  a  servant  on 
board  ship,  Col.  Pires,  by  his  skill  and  perseverance,  had 
become  the  richest  merchant  in  the  country.  He  could 
number  his  cattle  by  thousands,  and,  if  need  were,  could 
defend  himself  and  his  property  with  several  hundred 
armed  slaves,  who  would  have  fought  for  him  with  willing 
devotedness. 

The  fort  and  village  of  Pungo  Andongo  are  situated  in 
the  midst  of  a  group  of  rocky  columns,  several  of  which 
are  over  three  hundred  feet  in  height,  and  about  one  hun- 
dred feet  in  width  at  the  base.  As  the  village  is  situated 
in  an  open  space  in  the  centre  of  these  rocks,  and  is  only 
reached  by  narrow  and  circuitous  roads,  commanded  by 
Uie  rocks,  it  must  have  been  a  place  of  great  strength 
10 


110  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


when  the  country  was  in  an  unsettled  state  under  the 
Jingas,  the  original  possessors  of  the  country.  This 
warlike  tribe,  which  was  driven  out  of  their  territory  by 
the  Portuguese,  have  settled  farther  to  the  north,  where 
they  maintain  an  independent  existence. 

Crossing  the  Coanza,  and  several  of  its  tributaries, 
they  reached  Tala  Mungongo,  where  they  made  a  short 
stay,  and  suffered  from  a  plague  of  red  ants,  which  were 
so  numerous  and  so  formidable,  that  slaves  were  obliged 
to  sit  up  all  night,  burning  fires  of  straw  round  the 
slaughtered  carcass  of  a  cow :  otherwise  they  would  have 
devoured  it.  They  march  in  a  compact  band,  several 
inches  wide,  and  attack  man  and  every  animal  crossing 
their  track  with  determined  pugnacity.  The  stinging 
pain  caused  by  their  bites  is  compared,  by  Livingstone,  to 
that  produced  by  sparks  of  tire  falling  upon  the  bare  skin. 
The}r  perform  considerable  service  in  devouring  any  car- 
rion they  come  across,  and  by  eating  the  white  ants,  rats 
and  mice,  small  snakes,  and  even  the  large  pythons, 
wiien  they  find  them  in  a  state  of  surfeit.  They  do  not 
form  hills,  like  the  white  ants,  but  construct  their  nests 
in  burrows  at  some  distance  from  the  surface  of  the 
ground. 

At  Cassange,  he  was  again  hospitably  entertained  by 
Capt.  Neves  ;  and  during  his  short  stay  he  finished  the 
re-writing  of  his  journal,  and,  to  his  great  joy,  received 
a  packet  of  the  u  Times"  newspaper,  which  gave  him, 
among  other  news,  u  an  account  of  the  Russian  war  up 
to  the  terrible  charge  of  the  Light  Brigade.  The  intense 
anxiety  I  felt  to  hear  more  may  be  imagined  b}r  every  true 
patriot ;  but  I  was  forced  to  live  on  in  silent  thought, 
and  utter  my  poor  prayers  for  friends,  who,  perchance, 
were  now  no  more,  until  I  reached  the  other  side  of  the 


PREVALENCE  OF  FEVER. 


Ill 


continent."  When  he  next  came  within  reach  of  news 
from  home,  the  Russian  war  was  ended,  and  the  Indian 
mutiny  was  the  absorbing  topic  of  interest  and  dread 
among  his  countrymen.  This  complete  isolation  from  all 
news  from  the  civilized  quarters  of  the  world  was  not  the 
least  of  the  trials  to  which  his  adventurous  career  exposed 
him. 

But  for  the  prevalence  of  fever,  which,  perhaps,  im- 
proved cultivation  might  tend  to  diminish,  Livingstone 
speaks  of  Angola  as  being  ' '  in  every  other  respect  an 
agreeable  land,  and  admirably  adapted  for  yielding  a  rich 
abundance  of  tropical  produce  for  the  rest  of  the 
world."  He  further  says,  that,  "  had  it  been  in  the  pos- 
session of  England,  it  would  now  have  been  }7ielding  as 
much,  or  more,  of  the  raw  materials  of  her  manufactures, 
as  an  equal  extent  of  territory  in  the  cotton-growing 
States  of  America.  A  railway  from  Loancla  to  this 
valley  (the  Quango)  would  receive  the  trade  of  most 
of  the  interior  of  South  Central  Africa."  Livingstone's 
men,  during  this  passage  through  Angola,  collected  better 
breeds  of  fowls  and  pigeons  than  those  in  their  own  coun- 
try. The  native  tribes  of  Angola  are  very  superstitious  ; 
and,  notwithstanding  the  vigilance  of  the  Portuguese  gov- 
ernment, practise  many  of  their  inhuman  rites,  — notably 
the  ordeal  for  witchcraft,  which  consists  in  the  accused 
party  drinking  the  sap  of  a  poisonous  tree,  which  almost 
invariably  proves  fatal. 

After  partaking  of  the  hospitality  of  their  good  friends 
in  Portuguese  territory,  they  bade  adieu  to  civilized  socie- 
ty, and  crossed  the  Quango,  reducing  the  ferryman's 
charge  from  thirty  yards  of  calico  to  six,  their  more  pros- 
perous appearance,  and  better  armament,  having  its  effect 
in.  expediting  their  progress  where  they  had  previously 


112  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

suffered  so  much.  Sleeping  on  the  damp  ground,  dining 
the  incessant  rains,  brought  on  a  severe  attack  of  rheu- 
matic fever,  which  delayed  their  journey  for  twenty  days, 
as  the  faithful  Makololo  would  not  stir  during  his  weak 
state.  Petty  chiefs  endeavored  to  extract  handsome 
presents  for  permission  to  pass  through  their  small  territo- 
ries ;  but  experience  had  taught  them  to  put  them  at 
defiance,  the  wisdom  of  which  course  was  shown  when  the 
party  were  attacked,  in  a  forest,  by  a  chief  and  his  braves, 
who  were  repulsed  so  effectually  as  to  make  them  glad  to 
be  permitted  to  depart  with  whole  skins. 

As  the  Makololo  suffered  from  sickness,  their  progress 
was  slow ;  about  two-thirds  of  their  time  being  taken  up 
with  stoppages  to  recruit,  or  to  collect  provisions.  Making 
a  detour  to  the  south,  the  part}^  calne  in  contact  with  several 
tribes  who  had  not  been  contaminated  by  connection  with 
slave-traders  :  amongst  these  they  procured  abundance  of 
food  on  reasonable  terms.  The  men  were  great  dandies, 
the  oil  dripping  from  their  hair  on  to  their  shoulders,  and 
every  article  of  clothing  was  saturated  with  it.  They 
amuse  themselves  with  various  kinds  of  musical  instru- 
ments of  most  primitive  manufacture,  and  never  go  out 
save  armed  to  the  teeth  ;  their  guns  and  bows  ornamented 
with  strips  of  the  hides  of  the  various  animals  they  have 
shot.  Ladies  tend  pet  lap-dogs  with  as  much  care  as 
their  civilized  sisters,  with  a  better  excuse  for  their  pecu- 
liar taste  in  pets,  as  they  are  fattened  for  eating.  Flesh- 
meat  is  so  scarce  with  them,  that  they  were  always  pleased 
to  give  something  in  return  for  the  smallest  piece  of  ox- 
flesh.  Rats,  mice,  lizards,  and  birds  are  so  diligently 
hunted  and  trapped  for  food,  especially  the  latter,  that 
they  were  seldom  seen.  Parasitic  plants  were  so  plentiful, 
that  in  many  places  a  man  had  to  precede  the  party  in  the 


AMONG  UNFRIENDLY  TRIBES. 


113 


forests,  armed  with  a  hatchet  to  cut  a  passage.  The  lug- 
gage, on  the  backs  of  the  oxen,  was  frequently  entangled  by 
them,  and  thrown  to  the  ground  ;  the  same  fate  frequently 
overtaking  the  leader  of  the  party  himself.  Provisions 
were  exceedingly  cheap  ;  a  fowl,  and  twenty  pounds  of 
manioc-meal,  costing  a  yard  of  calico,  worth  threepence. 
From  the  Quango  valley,  the  party  had  been  accompanied 
by  Paseval  and  Favia,  two  half-caste  slave-traders.  It  was 
instructive  to  notice  that  they  could  not  carry  on  their 
peculiar  traffic  without  paying  heavy  blackmail,  in  the  shape 
of  presents,  to  every  petty  chief  whose  village  they  visited  ; 
nor  could  they  trust  their  native  bearers,  who  seemed  to 
consider  it  the  right  thing  to  plunder  them  on  all  occa- 
sions. They  were  compelled  to  wink  at  their  irregular- 
ities, as  the  safety  of  their  merchandise  was  entirely  in 
their  hands. 

Kawawa,  a  Balonda  chief,  being  balked  in  his  endeav- 
ors to  extract  blackmail  from  the  party,  sent  forward  four 
of  his  men  to  the  ferry  across  the  Kasai,  with  instructions 
to  the  ferrymen  that  they  should  not  be  carried  across  the 
stream,  which  was  about  a  hundred  yards  broad,  and  very 
deep,  unless  they  got  a  man,  an  ox,  a  gun,. and  a  robe.  At 
night,  Pitsane,  who  had  seen  where  the  canoes  were  hid- 
den among  the  reeds  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  stream, 
secured  a  canoe,  in  which  they  all  passed  safely  across ; 
to  the  chagrin  of  the  ferrymen,  and  Kawawa's  messengers, 
who  could  hardly  guess  how  they  had  managed  to  cross,  as 
the  canoes  were  all  safe  on  their  side  of  the  stream.  Pit- 
sane  had  replaced  the  canoe  after  it  had  done  its  work, 
and  swam  across  to  join  his  comrades  ;  some  beads  being 
left  in  it  as  payment  for  a  small  quantity  of  meal  got 
from  the  ferryman  on  the  previous  day.  In  their  mor- 
tification at  being  so  completely  worsted,  Kawawa's  peoplo 
10* 


114 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


shouted  across  to  them,  "  Ah,  you  are  bad ! "  to  vrhich 
the  Makololo  returned  for  answer,  "  Ah,  ye  are  gooc. !  and 
we  thank  3  ou  for  the  loan  of  your  canoe. " 

The  country  before  them  might  now  be  considered  as 
friendly  territor}7,  in  which  the  simple  inhabitants  could 
be  trusted  to  assist  them  in  their  onward  progress,  and 
whose  generous  kindness  would  render  less  serious  their 
exhausted  stores  of  baggage  and  ornaments ;  which  had 
disappeared  through  the  exactions  of  the  unfriendly  chiefs 
and  tribes  through  which  they  had  passed  since  crossing 
the  Quango,  and  the  payment  for  provisions  during  the 
long  delays  caused  by  the  ill  health  of  the  part}7.  The 
goods  and  ornaments  the  Makololo  had  received  in  pres- 
ents, or  had  purchased  out  of  their  earnings  at  Loanda, 
had  nearly  all  gone,  together  with  the  iron  they  had 
purchased  for  Sekeletu.  The  open  plains  of  the  Balonda 
country  were  comparatively  clear  of  water,  save  in  low- 
lying  spots  ;  and,  as  the  vegetation  was  less  dense  than 
they  had  found  it  farther  to  the  east,  their  progress  was 
more  easy.  Animal  life  became  more  abundant  as  they 
proceeded,  giving  cheering  token  of  the  land  of  plenty  to 
which  they  were  approaching  ;  vultures  sailed  overhead ; 
swifts,  and  several  varieties  of  swallows,  flitted  about ; 
wild  ducks,  and  other  water-fowl,  were  seen  in  considerable 
numbers  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  streams  and  pools ; 
small  herds  of  the  larger  game,  rendered  very  shy  in  con- 
sequence of  being  regularly  hunted  by  the  natives,  were 
frequently  seen  ;  and  jet-black  larks  made  the  air  musical 
with  their  song  in  the  early  morning.  The  plain  was 
radiant  with  flowers :  one  he  specially  noticed,  which 
grows  in  such  numbers  as  to  give  its  hue  to  the  ground, 
71ie  variety  of  color  of  this  flower  was  remarkable.  A 
')  oad  band  of  yellow,  on  being  closely  examined,  would 


HIS  TWENTY-SEVENTH  ATTACK  OF  FEVER.  115 

resolve  itself  into  individual  flowers,  exhibiting  every 
variety  of  color  from  the  palest  lemon  to  the^idchest 
orange.  A  hundred  yards  of  this  rich  carpeting  would  be 
succeeded  by  another  broad  band  of  the  same  flower  of  a 
blue  color,  made  up  of  every  variation  of  that  tint  from 
the  lightest  to  the  darkest  blue,  and  even  purple.  The 
color  of  the  birds  was  as  variable,  in  this  and  other  dis- 
tricts, as  that  of  the  flowers. 

On  the  second  clay's  journey  from  the  Kasai,  Livingstone 
suffered  from  his  twenty-seventh  attack  of  fever ;  and, 
after  an  exhausting  journey,  he  reached  Lake  Dilolo.  6  4  The 
sight  of  the  blue  waters,"  he  tells  us,  "and  the  waves 
lashing  the  shore,  had  a  most  soothing  influence  on  the 
mind,  after  so  much  of  lifeless,  flat,  and  gloomy  forest. 
The  heart  yearned  for  the  vivid  impressions  which  are 
alwa}'  s*  created  by  the  sight  of  the  broad  expanse  of  the 
grand  old  ocean."  Livingstone's  old  friend,  Katema, 
entertained  the  party  most  hospitably,  presenting  them 
with  a  cow,  and  abundance  of  meal.  According  to  prom- 
ise, Livingstone  presented  him  with  a  cloak  of  red  baize, 
a  cotton  robe,  a  quantity  of  beads,  an  iron  spoon,  and  a 
tin  pannikin,  containing  a  quarter  of  a  pound  of  powder. 
Katema  had  come  from  his  hunting-ground .  to  meet  the 
party,  to  which  he  returned  after  his  interview  with  Liv- 
ingstone ;  leaving  instructions  with  his  head  man  to  attend 
to  their  wants,  and  provide  them  with  a  guide  to  tne 
Leeba. 

At  Shinte's  town,  the  party  were  most  hospitably  enter- 
tained by  that  intelligent  chief ;  and  Nyamoana,  his  sister, 
who  had  changed  the  site  of  her  village  in  consequence  of 
the  death  of  her  husband,  treated  them  with  every  kind- 
ness, and  gave  them  the  loan  of  five  small  canoes,  in  wThich 
to  proceed  down  the  Leeba.    His  companions  also  bought 


116  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

several  light,  sharp-prowed  canoes  for  hunting  animals  in 
the  water.  Manenko  was  unable  to  visit  the  party  in  con- 
sequence of  a  burn  in  the  foot ;  but  her  husband  Sam- 
banza  came  instead,  and,  as  an  earnest  of  good-will, 
performed  the  ceremony  called  kasencli,  —  Pitsane  and 
Sambanza  being  the  parties  engaged.  The  hands  of  the 
parties  were  joined,  and  small  incisions,  sufficient  to 
cause  bleeding,  made  in  the  hands,  on  the  pits  of  the 
stomachs,  the  right  cheeks,  and  the  foreheads.  Drops  of 
blood  were  conveyed  from  the  wounds  of  each  on  a  stalk 
of.  grass,  and  dipped  in  beer,  —  the  one  drinking  the  beer 
mixed  with  the  other's  blood.  During  the  drinking  of  the 
beer,  members  of  the  party  beat  the  ground  with  clubs, 
and  muttered  sentences,  by  way  of  ratifj'ing  the  treaty. 
This  ceremony  constitutes  the  parties  engaging  in  it, 
blood-relations,  each  being  bound  to  warn  the  other  of 
impending  evil,  even  if  it  involved  the  disclosure  of  an 
intended  attack,  on  the  tribe  of  the  other,  by  his  own 
chief.  After  the  ceremony,  they  exchanged  presents ; 
Pitsane  getting  an  abundant  supply  of  food,  and  two 
shells,  and  Sambanza  receiving  Pitsane' s  suit  of  green 
baize,  faced  with  red. 

Below  the  confluence  of  the  Leeba  and  Leeambye,  the 
part}7  met  some  native  hunters,  well  provided  with  the 
dried  flesh  of  the  hippopotamus,  buffalo,  and  the  crocodile. 
They  stalk  these  animals  among  the  reeds  with  a  cap  made 
of  the  skin  of  the  head  of  an  antelope,  with  the  horns 
attached,  and  the  breast  and  shoulder  skin,  or  with  the 
neck  and  head  attached,  of  a  species  of  crane.  By  adopt- 
ing these  stratagems,  the}7  get  within  bow-shot  of  the 
animal  they  wish  to  kill.  They  presented  Livingstone 
with  three  fine  water- turtles,  one  of  which  had  upwards 
of  forty  eggs  in  its  body.    The  eggs  and  flesh  of  these 


DESCENT  OF  THE  LEEBA  AND  LEE  AM  BYE.  117 


turtles  are  most  excellent,  and  were  joyfully  accepted  by 
the  part}'.  Here  Livingstone  had  a  narrow  escape  from  a 
bull  buffalo,  which  charged  him  at  full  speed.  In  round- 
ing a  bush,  the  animal  exposed  his  shoulder,  into  which  he 
sent  a  bullet.  "  The  pain  must  have  made  him  renounce 
his  purpose  ;  for  he  bounded  past  me  into  the  water,  where 
he  was  found  dead." 

At  Libonta,  they  were  received  with  every  demonstra- 
tion of  joy  and  thankfulness  for  their  return.  For  months 
they  had  been  given  up  as  dead.  Such  a  scene  of  kissing 
and  hand-shaking  ensued,  as  made  Livingstone  glad  when 
they  were  all  quietly  seated  in  the  kotla,  to  hear  their 
report  of  their  adventures.  Wisely  declining  to  do  this 
himself,  Pitsane  enlarged,  for  a  whole  hour,  on  the  won- 
ders they-  had  seen,  and  the  adventures  they  had  come 
through.  The  members  of  his  party  had,  with  pardonable 
vanity,  throughout  all  their  trials  preserved  a  suit  of  white 
European  clothing  with  red  caps,  which  finished  the  ad- 
miration of  their  friends.  Next  day  they  had  two  religious 
services  in  the  kotla,  where  Livingstone  u  addressed  them 
all  on  the  goodness  of  God  in  preserving  us  from  all  the 
dangers  of  strange  tribes  and  disease."  The  men  pre- 
sented them  with  two  fine  oxen  ;  and  the  women  brought 
abundance  of  milk,  meal,  and  butter.  They  explained 
the  total  expenditure  of  their  means,  in  the  return  journey, 
as  a  reason  for  their  giving  nothing  in  return ;  and  the 
good  Libontese  answered,  u  It  does  not  matter  :  }t>u  have 
opened  a  path  for  us,  and  we  shall  have  sleep  (peace)." 

All  the  way  down  the  Barotse  valley,  they  were  received 
with  the  same  enthusiasm,  and  as  generously  treated.  At 
Chitlane's  village,  they  were  invited  to  collect  a  colony  of 
yonubi  linkololo,  a  long-legged  bird  about  the  size  of  a 
crow,  which  breeds  among  the  reeds  on  the  banks  of  the 


118 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


Leeambye.  There  were  a  hundred  and  seventy-six  of 
them.  When  roasted,  they  make  capital  eating.  All 
along  their  route  it  was  a  continuous  feast  of  joy ;  the 
donors  partaking,  with  the  party,  of  the  meats  they 
furnished. 

At  Sesheke,  Livingstone  found  several  packages  which 
had  been  sent  up  the  river  to  him  by  Mr.  Moffat,  who  had 
made  a  long  and  fatiguing  journey  in  search  of  him.  In 
these,  which  had  been  carefully  kept  by  the  Makololo  in  a 
hut  on  an  island  in  the  river,  as.  they  feared  witchcraft  on 
the  part  of  the  Matabeles  (their  enemies)  who  had  brought 
them,  he  found  English  newspapers  and  magazines,  and 
some  preserved  eatables.  Amongst  other  information  the 
papers  contained,  was  the  explanation,  by  Sir  Roderick 
Murchison,  after  a  study  of  Mr.  Barnes's  geological  map, 
and  discoveries  made  by  Livingstone  and  Mr.  Oswell,  of 
the  peculiar  conformation  of  the  continent  of  Central 
Africa.  Speaking  of  this  wonderful  prediction  of  the 
physical  characteristics  of  a  countr}r  of  which  he  had  no 
knowledge,  save  that  supplied  by  induction,  Livingstone 
says,  64  There  was  not  much  use  in  nursing  my  chagrin  at 
being  thus  fairly  cut  out  by  the  man  who  had  foretold  the 
existence  of  the  Australian  gold  before  its  discovery  ;  for 
here  it  was,  in  black  and  white.  In  his  easy-chair  he  had 
forestalled  me  by  three  3-ears,  though  I  had  been  working 
hard  through  jungle,  marsh,  and  fever,  since  the  light 
dawned  in  my  mind  at  Dilolo.  I  had  been  cherishing  the 
pleasing  delusion,  that  I  should  be  the  first  to  suggest  the 
idea  that  the  interior  of  Africa  was  a  watery  plateau  of 
less  elevation  than  flanking  hill  ranges." 

Arriving  at  Lhryanti,  in  September,  Livingstone  found 
his  wagon  and  goods  standing  where  he'  had  left  them 
more  than  twelve  months  before  ;  not  an  article  had  been 


ARRIVAL  AT  LINY  ANT I. 


119 


touched,  although  they  all  possessed  great  value  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Makololo.  Chief  and  people  were  loud  in 
their  demonstrations  of  joy  at  his  unlooked-for  return.  A 
great  meeting  was  held  to  receive  their  report,  and  the 
presents  sent  from  the  governor  and  merchants  of  Lo- 
anda.  The  wonderful  story  of  their  adventures  lost  nolli- 
ing  in  the  telling  at  the  hands  of  the  Makololo,  who  had 
accompanied  him ;  and  the  presents  sent  to  the  chief 
filled  them  with  unbounded  admiration.  Sekeletu  was 
proud  of  his  colonel's  uniform  ;  and,  when  he  donned  it  at 
the  first  religious  service  held  after  their  arrival,  his 
splendid  suit  attracted  more  attention  than  the  sermon. 
The  two  donkeys  were  greatly  admired,  as  they  promised 
to  be  the  parents  of  a  flock  of  domestic  animals  of  great 
value.  They  had  borne  the  long  journey  with  that  patient 
and  untiring  endurance  so  characteristic  of  their  species, 
and  enjoyed  the  abundant  vegetation  of  their  new  home. 

Having  been  so  long  separated  from  his  family,  and 
having  come  through  so  many  trials  and  difficulties,  which 
left  him  feverish  and  enfeebled,  no  one  would  have  blamed 
him  if  he  had  harnessed  his  oxen  to  his  wagon,  and  de- 
parted for  Kuruman  or  the  Cape,  to  rest  and  recruit  before 
attempting  another  journey.  But  this  was  not  in  accord- 
ance with  Livingstone's  sense  of  duty.  His  popularity 
gave  him  hopes  of  being  able  to  make  an  impression  on 
the  Makololo  by  his  religious  teaching ;  and  their  kind- 
ness, and  their  confidence  in  him,  made  him  desirous  of 
serving  them  in  other  ways.  The  road  to  Loanda  was 
long  and  difficult ;  and  so  much  of  it  passed  over  land 
inhabited  by  unfriendly  tribes,  that  he  felt  this  was  not 
the  proper  outlet  for  the  merchandise  of  Central  Africa. 
For  months  his  mind  had  wandered  down  the  course  of 
that  greatest  of  African  rivers,  the  Zambesi,  to  the  east 


120  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


coast ;  and,  the  more  he  thought  over  the  matter,  the  more 
he  became  convinced  that  this  was  the  proper  route,  and 
that  it  was  his  duty  to  settle  the  point  without  delay. 

He  was  all  but  destitute,  and  was  indebted  to  the  faith- 
ful Makololo  for  every  thing  he  required  while  amongst 
them  ;  and  he  could  not  carry  out  his  intention  of  passing 
to  the  coast  without  their  aid  in  men,  oxen,  and  material. 
Nor  were  these  wanting.  Explaining  to  Sekeletu  the 
method  of  preparing  sugar,  he  asked  him  if  he  could  pur- 
chase a  mill  for  him  in  the  east  coast.  On  his  replying 
that  he  had  nothing  with  which  to  buy  a  mill,  Sekeletu 
and  his  councillors  said,  "  The  ivory  is  all  your  own  :  if 
you  leave  any  in  the  country,  it  will  be  your  own  fault." 
Sekeletu  then  gave  him  an  order  for  a  sugar-mill,  "  and 
for  all  the  varieties  of  clothing  he  had  ever  seen,  and 
especially  a  mohair  coat,  a  good  rifle,  beads,  brass  wire, 
&c,  and  any  other  beautiful  thing  you  may  see  in  your 
own  country."  As  he  had  found  the  two  horses  left  with 
him  when  Livingstone  started  for  Loanda,  of  great  use, 
especially  in  hunting,  he  was  anxious  to  have  more  ;  which 
Livingstone  expected  to  be  able  to  get  for  him  at  the 
nearest  Portuguese  settlements. 

The  mother  of  Sekeletu,  who  had  joined  her  son  at  Lin- 
yanti,  prepared  a  bag  of  ground-nuts,  by  frying  them  in 
cream  with  a  little  salt,  as  a  sort  of  sandwich  for  the 
journey ;  and  every  one  seemed  anxious  to  contribute 
something  for  the  use  of  the  party.  One  hundred  and 
fourteen  men,  principally  volunteers,  were  selected  to 
accompany  him,  and  carry  the  ivory,  with  which  they 
were  to  pay  their  way  to  the  coast,  and  purchase  the 
articles  they  meant  to  bring  back.  Sekwebu,  who  had 
been  captured  by  the  Matebele  when  a  boy,  had  travelled 
along  with  the  tribe  in  which  he  was  captive  to  the  coun- 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  DEPARTURE.    [  121 


try  near  Tete,  and  was  intimately  acquainted  with  the 
country  on  both  sides  of  the  Zambesi,  and  the  dialect  spo- 
ken, was  appointed  head  of  the  expedition.  Mamire,  a 
chief  who  had  married  the  mother  of  Sekeletu  since 
Livingstone's  departure  for  the  west  coast,  a  man  of 
great  wisdom  and  prudence,  on  bidding  him  farewell, 
said,  "You  are  now  going  among  a  people  who  cannot 
be  trusted,  because  we  have  used  them  badly ;  but  you 
go  with  a  different  message  from  any  they  have  ever 
heard  before  ;  and  Jesus  will  be  with  you,  and  help  you, 
though  among  enemies  ;  and  if  he  carries  }^ou  safely,  and 
brings  you  and  Ma-Robert  back  again,  I  shall  say  he  has 
bestowed  a  great  favor  upon  me.  May  we  obtain  a  path 
whereby  we  may  visit,  and  be  visited  by,  other  tribes, 
and  by  white  men  !  "  Mentioning  his  inability  to  pay  the 
men  who  would  accompany  him,  this  good  and  sagacious 
man  replied,  "A  man  wishes,  of  course,  to  appear 
among  his  friends,  after  a  long  absence,  with  something 
of  his  own  to  show.  The  whole  of  the  ivory  in  the  coun- 
try is  yours  :  so  you  must  take  as  much  as  you  can,  and 
Sekeletu  will  furnish  men  to  carry  it." 

As  the  wives  of  man}^  of  his  attendants  had  given  their 
husbands  up  as  lost,  and  taken  to  themselves  other  hus- 
bands, Livingstone  had  some  difficult  questions,  as  to 
possession,  to  decide.  In  cases  where  the  man  had  only 
one  wife,  he  decided  without  hesitation  that  she  should  go 
back  to  the  original  husband  ;  but,  when  a  man  had  more 
than  one,  he  declined  to  decide  what  should  be  done,  in 
case  it  should  be  thought  that  he  favored  polygamy. 
Some  of  the  men  consoled  themselves  for  the  loss  of  their 
wives  by  taking  others. 

Soon  after  his  arrival,  a  picho  was  held  to  consider  the 
propriety  of  settling  in  the  Barotse  valley,  to  be  nearer 
11 


122 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


the  west  coast  for  the  purposes  of  trade  with  the  new 
market  the  expedition  had  opened  up  to  them.  At  this 
"  picho,"  Sekeletu  said,  addressing  Livingstone,  "I  am 
perfectly  satisfied  as  to  the  great  advantages  for  trade  of 
the  path  which  you  have  opened,  and  think  that  we  ought 
to  go  to  the  Barotse,  in  order  to  make  the  way  for  us  to 
Loanda  shorter ;  but  with  whom  am  I  to  live  there  ?  If 
you  were  coming  with  us,  I  would  remove  to-morrow ; 
but  now  you  are  going  to  the  white  man's  country  to 
bring  Ma-Robert  (Mrs.  Livingstone)  ;  and,  when  you 
return,  you  will  find  me  near  to  the  spot  on  which  you 
wish  to  dwell." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


START  FOR  THE  EAST  COAST.  THE  VICTORIA  FALLS.  THB 

BATOKA  TRIBES.   REACHES  ZUMBO,  A  DESERTED  PORTU- 
GUESE SETTLEMENT. 

On  the  3d  of  November,  1855,  Livingstone  and  hi3 
fellow- adventurers,  accompanied  by  Sekeletu  with  two 
hundred  of  his  followers,  who  were  to  accompany  them  as 
far  as  Kalai  on  the  Leeambye,  started  from  Linyanti. 
The  whole  party  were  fed  at  Sekeletu' s  expense,  —  the 
cattle  for  the  purpose  being  taken  from  his  cattle-stations, 
which  are  spread  over  the  whole  territory  owing  him  alle- 
giance. Passing  through  a  44  tsetse"  district  when  dark, 
to  escape  its  attacks,  they  were  overtaken  by  a  tremen- 
dous storm  of  thunder,  lightning,  and  rain,  which  thor- 
oughly drenched  the  party.  Livingstone's  extra  clothing 
having  gone  on,  he  was  looking  forward  ruefully  to  the 
prospect  of  passing  the  night  on  the  wet  ground,  when 
Sekeletu  gave  him  his  blanket,  lying  uncovered  himself. 
He  says,  44 1  was  much  touched  by  this  little  aet  of  genu- 
ine kindness.  If  such  men  must  perish  by  the  advance 
of  civilization,  as  certain  races  of  animals  do  before 
others,  it  is  a  pity.  God  grant  that,  ere  this  time  comes, 
they  may  receive  that  gospel  which  is  a  solace  for  the  soul 
in  death ! " 

On  the  island  of  Kalai,  they  found  the  grave  of  Sekote, 
a  Batoka  chief,  who  had  been  conquered  by  Sebituane, 
and  had  retreated  to  this  place,  where  he  died.  The 

123 


124    \      LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

ground  near  the  grave  was  garnished  by  human  skulls, 
mounted  on  poles,  and  a  large  heap  of  the  crania  of 
hippopotami,  the  tusks  being  placed  on  one  side.  The 
grave  was  ornamented  with  seventy  large  elephants'  tusks, 
planted  round  it  with  the  points  inwards,  forming  an 
ivory  canopy ;  and  thirty  more  were  placed  over  the 
graves  of  his  relatives.  As  they  neared  the  point  from 
which  the  party  intended  to  strike  off  to  the  north-east 
from  the  river,  Livingstone  determined  to  visit  the  falls 
of  Mosioatunya,  known  as  the  Falls  of  Victoria  since  his 
visit.  He  had  often  heard  of  these  falls  from  the  Mako- 
lolo.  None  of  them  had  visited  them  ;  but  many  of  them 
had  been  near  enough  to  hear  the  roar  of  the  waters,  and 
see  the  cloud  of  spray  which  hangs  over  them.  The  lit- 
eral meaning  of  the  Makololo  name  for  them  is  ' 4  smoke 
does  sound  there." 

He  visited  them  twice  on  this  occasion,  the  last  time 
along  with  Sekeletu,  whose  curiosity  had  been  aroused  by 
his  description  of  their  magnificence.  Just  where  the 
sounding  smoke,  of  which  Sebituane  and  the  Makololo 
had  told  him,  rises  up  for  several  hundred  feet  into  the 
sky,  and  is  visible  for  over  twenty  miles,  —  a  spectacle  of 
ever-changing  form  and  color,  —  the  mighty  stream,  about 
a  mile  in  width,  plunges,  in  a  clear  and  unbroken  mass, 
into  a  rent  in  the  basaltic  rock  which  forms  the  bed  of 
the  river,  and  the  low  hills  which  bound  the  river  in  front, 
and  on  either  side,  for  a  considerable  distance  of  its 
course.  This  chasm  is  from  eighty  to  a  hundred  feet  in 
width,  and  of  unknown  depth  ;  the  thundering  roar  of  the 
falling  waters  being  heard  for  a  distance  of  many  miles. 
The  throbbing  of  the  solid  ground,  caused  by  the  immense 
weight  and  force  of  the  falling  water,  is  felt  at  a  great 
distance  from  the  tremendous  chasm  in  which  the  great- 
river  is  ingulfed. 


THE  VICTORIA  FALLS. 


125 


After  a  descent  of  several  yards,  the  hitherto  unbroken 
mass  of  water  presents  the  appearance  of  drifted  snow, 
from  which  jets  of  every  form  leap  out  upon  the  opposite 
side  of  the  chasm.  For  about  a  hundred  feet,  its  descent 
can  be  traced,  when  it  reaches  the  seething  surface  of 
the  water  below  ;  from  which  arises,  in  jets  of  water  like 
steam,  a  dense  smoke-cloud  of  spray,  which,  descending 
on  all  sides  like  rain,  wets  the  on-looker  to  the  skin,  and 
maintains  a  constant  green  verdure  within  the  reach  of  its 
influence.  The  depth  of  the  narrow  chasm,  which  draws 
off  such  a  vast  volume  of  water,  must  be  very  great.  At 
one  place  it  has  been  plumbed  to  a  depth  more  than  twice 
that  of  the  pool  into  which  the  St.  Lawrence  falls  at 
Niagara.  The  great  smoke-clouds  are  formed  by  five  dis- 
tinct columns  of  spray  which  ascend  from  the  gulf,  to  a 
height  of  from  two  to  three  hundred  feet.  Three  of  these 
columns  —  two  on  the  right,  and  one  on  the  left,  of  Gar- 
den Island,  which  overlooks  the  falls  —  appeared  to  Liv- 
ingstone to  contain  as  much  water,  in  each,  as  there  is  in 
the  Clyde  at  the  fall  of  Stonebyres  during  a  flood.  The 
waters  are  drained  off,  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  falls,  by 
a  prolongation  of  the  rocky  chasm,  which  pursues  its  way, 
with  little  variation  as  to  breadth,,  in  a  zigzag  course 
through  the  mass  of  low  hills,  for  over  thirty  miles  ;  when 
the  tormented  waters  break  into  the  plains,  and  spread 
out  to  their  former  width,  to  be  here  and  there  narrowed 
by  the  several  rapids  which  interrupt  its  navigation,  in 
some  cases  even  to  the  light  canoes  of  the  bold  and  skil- 
ful Makololo  and  Batoka  men. 

The  scene  round  the  falls  is  exceedingly  beautiful. 
The  banks  and  islands  are  covered  with  vegetation, 
through  which  the  giants  of  the  African  forest  rear  their 
lofty  crests.  The  baobab,  each  of  whose  arms  would 
11* 


126  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

form  great  trees,  the  palmyra,  with  its  feathery  leases, 
the  mohonou,  in  form  like  the  cedars  of  Lebanon,  the 
cypress-like  motsouri,  and  other  varieties  of  trees  similar 
to  our  own  oaks,  elms,  and  chestnuts,  stood  out  cleai 
against  the  background  of  smoke-cloud  ;  which,  during  the 
day,  glowed  in  the  sun,  and  was  surmounted  by  magnifi- 
cent rainbows,  and  at  night  shone  with  a  yellow,  sulphur- 
ous haze,  shadowed  by  clouds  of  pitchy  blackness,  as  if 
belched  from  the  crater  of  a  burning  mountain.  No 
wonder  the  ignorant  natives  looked  upon  this  scene,  so 
grand  and  so  terrible  in  its  beauty  and  majesty,  as  the 
abode  of  their  God  Barimo :  it  was  the  highest  mani- 
festation of  the  power  and  grandeur  of  nature  with  which 
they  were  acquainted.  The  untutored  savage  worships 
power  and  mystery ;  and  here  these  were  presented  to 
hin_  in  a  form  which  could  not  fail  to  impress  his  imagi- 
nation. 

Previous  to  the  formation  of  the  immense  fissure  into 
which  the  Zambesi  falls,  the  plains  above  must  have  been 
the  bed  of  a  vast  lake  ;  and  its  whole  course  from  the  falls 
upwards,  previous  to  Livingstone's  visit,  had  been  popu- 
larly supposed  to  be  a  parched  desert.  The  great 
traveller  notices  that  while  he  was  engaged  in  resolving 
this,  a  writer  in  "  The  Athenaeum, "  dealing  with  the  pre- 
vious discoveries  and  guesses  as  to  the  extent  of  this  river, 
placed  its  source  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  falls,  on  the 
edge  of  a  great  desert,  and  made  its  upper  waters,  the 
Leeba  and  the  Leeamb}Te,  turn  sharply  to  the  south,  and 
lose  themselves  in  the  arid  wastes  of  the  Kalahari  desert : 
so  difficult  is  it  to  get  mere  theorists  to  give  up  a  long- 
existing  notion.  To  this  writer,  a  central  desert  must 
exist ;  and  all  other  physical  facts,  however  new  and 
strange,  must  conform  to  it. 


V 


THE  BATOKA  TRIBES.  127 

Taking  leave  of  Sekeletu  and  his  followers,  the  party 
pushed  northwards  through  the  Batoka  country.  Thig 
powerful  and  numerous  tribe  had  been  conquered  and 
decimated  by  Sebituane  and  the  Matabele  until  vast 
tracts  of  fruitful  hill  and  plain,  in  which  the  larger  game 
abounded,  were  almost  devoid  of  human  h'fe.  The 
Batoka  people  are  a  low  type,  and  are  of  a  cruel  and  vin- 
dictive disposition,  probably  fostered  by  the  wars  they 
have  been  forced  to  wage  against  more  powerful  tribes. 
They  have  a  barbarous  habit  of  knocking  out  the  front 
teeth  in  the  upper  jaw,  which  gives  to  their  faces  a  hide- 
ous expression.  They  explained  that  they  did  this  in 
order  to  look  like  oxen,  and  not  like  zebras,  which  they 
hold  in  detestation. 

In  the  valley  of  the  Lekone,  a  considerable  river  which 
falls  into  the  Zambesi  below  the  falls,  they  rested  a  day 
at  the  village  of  Moyara,  whose  father  had  been  a  power- 
ful chief,  with  many  followers,  and  large  herds  of  cattle 
and  goats.  His  son  lives  among  the  ruins  of  his  town, 
with  five  wives,  and  a  handful  of  people  ;  while  the  remains 
of  his  warlike  and  more  powerful  father  are  buried  in  the 
middle  of  his  hut,  covered  with  a  heap  of  rotting  ivory. 
Bleached  skulls  of  Matabele,  evidences  of  his  power  and 
cruelty,  were  stuck  on  poles  about  the  village.  The 
degraded  condition  of  the  Batoka,  among  the  more  pow- 
erful tribes,  was  exemplified  by  the  fact  that  a  number 
of  them  were  introduced  into  his  party  by  Sekeletu  to 
carry  his  tusks  to  the  nearest  settlement,  where  they 
could  be  sold  by  Livingstone. 

The  open  plains,  and  the  short  grass  and  firm  ground, 
made  travelling  a  luxury  compared  with  their  experiences 
m  going  to  the  west  coast ;  and  the  party  marched  on  in 
the  highest  spirits.     Fruit-trees,  yielding  edible  fruit, 


128  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

were  abundant ;  several  of  them  were  similar  to  th  >se 
they  had  seen  on  the  coast  near  Loanda.  Large  regi- 
ments of  black  soldier-ants  were  seen ;  they  are  about 
half  an  inch  in  length,  and  march  in  close  column  headed 
by  leaders,  which  are  considerably  larger  than  the  others. 
They  prey  upon  the  white  ants,  which  are  stung  by  the 
leaders,  inducing  a  state  of  coma,  during  which  they  are 
carried  away  to  be  eaten  by  the  marauders.  When  dis- 
turbed in  their  march,  they  utter  a  distinct  hissing  or 
chirping  sound.  But  for  the  black  ants,  the  white  ants 
would  increase  to  an  alarming  extent,  and  make  the 
country  a  desert  by  eating  up  every  thing  vegetable. 
The  white  ants  perform  several  useful  functions.  The 
soil,  after  being  manipulated  by  them  in  forming  their 
houses  and  nests,  becomes  exceedingly  fertile  ;  and  they 
remove  all  deca}ing  vegetation,  just  as  the  black  ants  do 
all  putrid  flesh,  and  excrement. 

The  Batoka,  like  the  Makololo  and  other  inland  tribes, 
smoke  the  mutokwane,  a  species  of  hemp,  which  produces 
a  kind  of  intoxication,  which  sometimes  leads  to  a  fit  of 
mad  frenzy.  So  strongly  are  they  addicted  to  this  prac- 
tice, that  even  Sekeletu  and  his  head  men  could  not  be 
persuaded  by  Livingstone  to  abandon  it. 

Buffaloes,  antelopes,  elephants,  zebras,  and  lions  and 
other  felines,  abounded  in  the  district  crossed  by  them 
during  the  early  part  of  their  journey.  In  consequence  of 
being  little  disturbed,  the  larger  game  were  very  tame. 
Livingstone  shot  a  bull  buffalo  among  a  herd.  When 
wounded,  the  others  endeavored  to  gore  it  to  death. 
This  herd  was  led  by  a  female  ;  and  he  remarks  that  this 
is  often  the  case  with  the  larger  game,  as  the  leader  is  not 
followed  on  account  of  its  strength,  but  its  wariness,  and 
its  faculty  of  discerning  danger.    The  cow  buffalo  -lea.ler, 


( 

V 

A  HEALTHY  AND  FERTILE  REGION.  129 

when  she  passed  the  party  at  the  head  of  the  herd,  had  a' 
number  of  buffalo-birds  seated  upon  her  withers.    By  fob  * 
iowing  the  honey-bird,  his  attendants  procured  abundance 
of  honey. 

The  ruins  of  many  towns  were  passed,  proving  the 
density  of  the  population  before  the  invasion  of  the 
county  by  Sebituane,  and  his  being  driven  out  of  it  by 
the  Matabele,  and  other  rival  tribes.  At  the  river  Dila, 
they  saw  the  spot  where  Sebituane  had  lived.  The  Ma- 
kololo  had  never  ceased  to  regret  their  enforced  departure 
from  this  healthy,  beautiful,  and  fertile  region  ;  and  Sek- 
webu  had  been  instructed  by  Sekeletu  to  point  out  to  Liv- 
ingstone its  advantages  as  a  position  for  their  future  head- 
quarters. Beyond  the  Dila,  they  reached  a  tribe  hostile  to 
the  Makololo ;  but,  although  they  assumed  a  threatening 
attitude,  the  party,  owing  to  Livingstone's  courage  and 
firmness,  passed  through  unharmed.  Save  on  this  occa- 
sion, the  Batoka  were  most  friendly,  great  numbers  of 
them  coming  from  a  distance  with  presents  of  maize  and 
fruit,  and  expressing  their  great  joy  at  the  first  appear- 
ance of  a  white  man  amongst  them.  The  women  clothe 
themselves  much  as  the  Makololo  women  do ;  but  the  men 
go  about  in  puris  natur alibis,  and  appeared  to  be  quite 
insensible  to  shame.  The  country  got  more  populous 
the  farther  east  they  advanced  ;  but  their  curiosity  and 
kindness  did  not  increase.  Food  was  abundant ;  the 
masuka  tree  wras  plentiful,  and  its  fruit  was  so  thickly 
strewn  about  the  ground,  that  his  men  gathered  and  ate  it 
as  they  marched.  Everywhere  among  these  unsophisti- 
cated sons  of  nature,  who  had  all  they  wished  for  in  their 
genial  climate,  plentiful  herds,  and  abundant  crops  of 
maize  and  fruit,  the  cry  wras  for  peace.  Before  the 
advent  of  Sebituane,  the  country  had  been  swept  by  a 


130  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  IL.D. 


powerful  chief  named  Pingola,  who  made  war  from  a  mere 
love  of  conquest ;  and  the  memory  of  their  sufferings  had 
entered  deep  into  their  hearts.  A  sister  of  Monze,  the 
head  chief  of  the  tribes  in  the  district  they  were  now 
traversing,  in  expressing  her  joy  at  the  prospect  of  being 
at  peace,  said,  "  It  would  be  so  pleasant  to  sleep  without 
dreaming  of  any  one  pursuing  them  with  a  spear !  " 

Monze  visited  the -party,  wrapped  in  a  large  cloth,  and 
rolled  in  the  dust,  slapping  the  outside  of  his  thighs  with 
his  hands, — a  species  of  salutation  Livingstone  had  a 
strong  repugnance  to,  especially  when  performed  by 
naked  men  ;  but  no  expression  of  his  feelings  tended  to 
put  a  stop  to  it.  Monze  gave  them  a  goat  and  a  fowl, 
and  a  piece  of  the  flesh  of  a  buffalo  which  had  been 
killed  by  him,  and  was  greatly  pleased  with  a  present  of 
some  handkerchiefs  ;  and  the  head  men  of  the  neighbor- 
ing villages  also  visited  them,  each  of  them  provided  with 
presents  of  maize,  ground-nuts,  and  corn.  Some  of 
these  villagers  had  the  hair  of  their  heads  all  gathered 
into  a  mass,  and  w^oven  into  a  cone,  from  four  to  eight 
inches  in  width  at  the  base,  ending  in  a  point  more  or 
less  prolonged. 

As  buffaloes  and  elephants  were  plentiful,  one  was  now 
and  again  shot,  so  that  the  part}^  seldom  wanted  flesh- 
meat.  A  part}^  of  his  men  on  one  occasion  slaughtered 
a  female  and  her  calf  wTith  their  spears,  native  fashion. 
The  mother  had  much  the  appearance  of  a  huge  porcu- 
pine, from  the  number  of  spears  sticking  into  her  flesh, 
when  she  at  last  fell  exhausted  by  the  loss  of  blood. 
This  was  a  needlessly  cruel  method  of  recruiting  their 
stores  of  food,  and  Livingstone  did  not  encourage  it ; 
although  he  found  shooting  the  larger  game  for  food  both 
trying  and  hazardous,  as  he  could  make  little  use  of 


THE  KAFUE. 


131 


his  right  arm,  which  had  been  fractured  by  the  lion  when 
among  the  Bakwains.  His  skill  was  very  much  impaired, 
and  was,  provokingly  enough,  at  its  lowest  ebb  when  meat 
was  most  wanted. 

They  had  now  got  into  a  district  where  rains  were  fre- 
quent ;  and  so  much  had  they  been  spoiled  by  the  beauti- 
ful dry  weather,  and  level  country  they  had  passed 
through,  that  at  first  they  invariably  stopped,  and  took  to 
shelter,  when  it  fell. 

On  the  18th  of  December,  they  reached  the  Kafue,  the 
largest  tributary  of  the  Zambesi  they  had  yet  seen.  It 
was  about  two  hundred  yards  broad,  and  full  of  hippo- 
potami. Here  they  reached  the  village  of  Semalembue, 
who  made  them  a  present  of  thirty  baskets  of  meal  and 
maize,  and  a  large  quantity  of  ground-nuts.  On  ex- 
plaining that  he  had  little  to  give  in  return  for  the  chiefs 
handsome  gift,  he  accepted  his  apologies  politely,  saying 
that  he  knew  there  were  no  goods  in  the  country  from  which 
lie  had  come.  He  professed  great  joy  at  the  words  of  peace 
tfhich  Livingstone  addressed  to  him,  and  said,  "  Now  I 
shall  cultivate  largely,  in  the  hope  of  eating  and  sleeping 
in  peace."  The  preaching  of  the  gospel  amongst  these 
people  gave  them  the  idea  of  living  at  peace  with  one 
another  as  one  of  its  effects.  It  was  not  necessary  to  ex- 
plain to  them  the  existence  of  a  Deity.  Sakwebu 
pointed  out  a  district,  two-and-a-half  days'  distance, 
where  there  is  a  hot  fountain  which  emits  steam,  where 
Sebituane  had  at  one  time  dwelt.  "There,"  said  he, 
u  had  Sebituane  been  alive,  he  would  have  brought  you  to 
liye  v>  ith  him.  You  would  be  on  the  bank  of  the  river  ; 
and,  by  taking  canoes,  you  would  at  once  sail  down  to  th6 
Zambesi,  and  visit  the  white  people  at  the  sea." 

The  country  they  were  now  in  was  diversified  by  hills 


132  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


and  e\ery  available  piece  of  ground  in  the  valeys  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  villages  was  carefully  planted. 
The  gardens  near  the  river  are  surrounded  by  pitfalls,  to 
prevent  the  inroads  of  the  hippopotami,  which  are  very 
numerous,  and  quite  tame,  showing  no  fear  when  any  of 
the  party  approached  them.  As  they  required  meat,  they 
shot  a  cow  hippopotamus,  and  found  the  flesh  tasted  very 
much  like  pork.  The  range  of  hills,  amongst  which  they 
now  were,  rose  from  six  to  nine  hundred  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  river  ;  and  these  were  but  the  outer  and  lower 
fringe  of  a  higher  range  be}'ond.  From  the  top  of  the 
outer  range  of  hills,  they  had  a  splendid  view  of  the  sur- 
rounding country.  The  course  of  the  Kafue,  through 
hills  and  forests,  could  be  followed  towards  its  confluence 
with  the  Zambesi,  and  beyond  that  lay  a  long  range  of 
dark  hills  ;  above  the  course  of  the  Zambesi,  floated  a 
line  of  fleecy  clouds.  Elephants,  zebras,  and  buffaloes 
were  met  with  in  vast  herds,  which  showed  no  dread  of 
their  approach.  They  also  saw  large  numbers  of  red- 
colored  wild  pigs. 

As  the}'  approached  the  Zambesi,  the  ground  became 
more  and  more  thickly  covered  with  broad-leaved  brush- 
wood ;  and  water-fowl  rose  out  of  the  pools  and  streams, 
and  flew  overhead,  in  large  numbers.  On  reaching  the 
king  of  African  rivers,  they  found  it  much  larger  than 
above  the  falls,  and  flowing  at  the  rate  of  four- and- a-half 
miles  an  hour.  When  Sekwebu  was  a  boy,  this  region 
was  thickly  inhabited,  and  all  the  natives  had  plenty  of 
cattle.  The  return  to  it  of  the  larger  game  had  intro- 
duced the  dreaded  insect  "  tsetse,''  which  rapidly  de- 
fctro}-ed  them. 

Every  village  they  passed  furnished  two  guides,  who 
conducted  them  by  the  easiest  paths  to  the  next.  Along 


AN  AGRICULTURAL  TRIBE. 


132 


the  courso  of  the  Zambesi,  in  this  district,  the  people  are 
great  agriculturists.  Men,  women,  and  children  were  all 
verv  busily  at  work  in  their  gardens.  The  men  are 
strong  and  robust,  and  with  hands  hardened  by  toil. 
The  women  disfigure  themselyes  by  piercing  the  upper 
lip,  and  inserting  a  shell.  This  fashion  universally  pre- 
vails among  the  Maran,  which  is  the  name  of  the  people. 
The  head  men  of  the  villages  presented  the  party  freely 
with  food ;  and  one  of  them  gave  Livingstone  a  basinful 
of  rice,  the  first  he  had  seen  for  a  long  time.  He  said  he 
knew  it  was  white  man's  meal,  and  refused  to  sell  a 
quantity  unless  for  a  man.  Strange  that  his  first  intro- 
duction to  one  of  the  products  of  civilization  should  he 
simultaneous  with  that  of  a  hateful  commerce,  fostered 
by  a  race  holding  themselves  so  much  superior  to  the 
savage  tribes  of  the  interior  through  which  they  had 
passed,  who  held  it  in  abhorrence. 

Previous  to  Livingstone's  arrival  in  this  part  of  the 
county,  Sinatomba,  an  Italian  slave-dealer,  who  had 
married  the  daughter  of  a  neighboring  chief,  had  as- 
cended the  river  in  canoes  with  fifty  armed  slaves,  and 
carried  off  a  large  number  of  people,  and  a  quantity  of 
ivory,  from  several  inhabited  islands.  At  the  instigation 
of  his  father-in-law,  several  chiefs  assembled  their  follow- 
ers, and  attacked  him  as  he  descended  the  river,  defeating 
and  slaying  him,  and  liberating  his  prisoners.  Selole,  a 
great  chief,  hearing  of  the  approach  of  a  white  man  with  a 
large  following,  imagining  that  this  was  another  Italian 
slave-trader,  or  Sinatomba  himself  risen  from  the  dead, 
made  great  preparations  for  attacking  the  party.  A 
timely  explanation  of  the  object  of  their  journey  put 
matters  to  rights  at  once.  At  Mburumba's  village,  his 
brother  came  to  meet  them,  and,  in  explanation  of  the 
12 


134  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTON!.,  LL.D. 


delay  caused  by  the  threatened  attack,  toll  them  that  the 
Italian  had  come  among  them,  talking  of  peace  as  they 
did,  and  had  kidnapped  slaves,  and  bought  ivory  with 
them  ;  and  that  the}'  were  supposed  to  be  of  the  same 
calling.  As  they  had  been  unsuccessful  in  hunting  the  day 
before,  an  elephant  having  got  clear  off  with  from  seventy 
to  eighty  spears  fixed  in  his  flesh  in  addition  to  the  last 
dozen  of  Livingstone's  bullets,  he  said,  "The  man  at 
whose  village  you  remained  was  in  fault  in  allowing  you 
to  want  meat ;  for,  had  he  only  run  across  to  Mburumba, 
he  would  have  given  him  a  little  meal ;  and  having  sprin- 
kled that  on  the  ground,  as  an  offering  to  the  gods,  you 
would  have  found  your  elephant."  Among  these  tribes, 
the  chiefs  are  all  supposed  to  possess  supernatural  power. 

Mburumba  did  not  visit  the  party  himself ;  and  although 
he  sent  presents  of  meal,  maize,  and  native  corn,  the 
conduct  of  his  people  was  very  suspicious,  as  the}'  never 
came  near  them  unless  in  large  numbers,  and  fully  armed 
with  bows  and  spears.  The  party  were  suspicious  of  the 
intentions  of  the  guides  sent  by  Mburumba  to  take  them 
to  his  mother's  village  ;  but  they  reached  their  destination 
in  safety,  and  were  hospitably  treated  by  Ma-Mburumba, 
who  furnished  them  with  guides,  who  conveyed  them  to 
the  junction  of  the  Loangwa  and  the  Zambesi.  As  the 
natives  assembled  in  great  force  at  the  place  where  they 
were  to  cross  the  Loangwa,  they  were  still  in  dread  of 
being  attacked  ;  but,  whatever  were  their  reason;*  for  this 
formidable  demonstration,  they  were  allowed  to  pass 
safely  to  the  other  side. 

Beyond  the  river,  they  came  upon  the  ruins  of  some 
houses,  which  were  simply  constructed,  but  beautifully 
situated  on  the  hillsides  commanding  a  view  of  the  river. 
These  had  been  the  residences  of  Portuguese  traders  in 


A  DESERTED  PORTUGUESE  SETTLEMENT.    .  135 

ivor}7  and  slaves,  when  Zumbo,  which  they  were  now  ap- 
proaching, had  been  a  place  of  considerable  importance 
as  a  Portuguese  trade  settlement.  Passing  Zumbo,  they 
slept  opposite  the  island  of  Shotanaga  in  the  Zambesi, 
and  were  surprised  by  a  visit  from  a  party  with  a  hat  and 
jacket  on  from  the  island.  He  was  quite  black,  and  had 
come  from  the  Portuguese  settlement  of  Tete,  which  they 
now  learned,  to  their  chagrin,  was  on  the  other  side  of  the 
stieam.  This  was  all  the  more  awkward,  as  he  informed 
them  that  the  people  of  the  settlement  had  been  fighting 
with  the  natives  for  two  years.  Mpende,  a  powerful 
chief,  who  lived  farther  down  the  river,  had  determined 
that  no  white  man  should  pass  him.  All  this  made  them 
anxious  to  cross  to  the  other  bank  of  the  river ;  but 
none  of  the  chiefs  whose  villages  lay  between  their  pres- 
ent position  and  Mpende's  town,  although  in  every  other 
wajr  most  friendly,  dared  to  ferry  them  across,  in  dread 
of  offending  that  powerful  chief. 

All  but  unarmed  as  they  were,  and  dependent  upon  the 
kindness  of  the  people  through  whose  country  they  were 
passing,  their  progress  being  retarded  by  the  feebleness 
of  their  tsetse-bitten  oxen,  there  was  no  help  for  it  but 
to  proceed,  and  trust  to  Providence  for  the  reception  they 
might  receive  from  the  dreaded  chief  who  was  at  waj 
with  the  Portuguese  in  their  front.  Trusting  in  the  pur 
ity  of  his  motives,  and  that  dauntless  courage,  tempered 
with  discretion,  which  had  never  deserted  him,  Living- 
stone passed  on  ;  the  fear  of  what  awaited  him  in  front 
not  preventing  him  from  admiring  the  beauty  of  the  coun- 
try, and  its  capability,  under  better  circumstances,  of  main- 
taining a  vast  population  in  peace  and  plenty.  Nearing 
Mpende's  village,  where  a  conical  hill,  higher  than  any  lie 
had  yet  seen,  and  the  wooded  heights,  and  green,  fertile 


136  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


valleys,  commanded  his  admiration,  he  all  but  forgot  the 
danger  of  his  situation,  until  forcibly  reminded  of  it  by 
the  arrival  of  a  formidable  number  of  Mpende's  people  at 
his  encampment,  uttering  strange  cries,  waving  some  red 
substance  towards  them,  and  lighting  a  fire,  on  which 
they  placed  chains,  after  which  they  departed  to  some  dis- 
tance, where  armed  men  had  been  collecting  ever  since 
daybreak. 

Fearing  a  skirmish,  Livingstone  slaughtered  an  ox,  ac- 
cording to  the  custom  of  Sebituane,  with  the  view  of 
raising  the  courage  of  his  men  by  a  plentiful  meal.  Al- 
though only  half- armed,  in  rags,  and  suffering  from  their 
march,  yet  inured  as  they  were  to  fatigue,  and  feeling  a 
confidence  in  their  superiority  over  the  Zambesi  men, 
notwithstanding  all  drawbacks  in  comfort  and  circum- 
stances, Livingstone  had  little  fear  of  the  result,  if  fight 
he  must ;  but,  in  accordance  with  his  constant  policy,  he 
was  bound  to  accomplish  his  object  in  peace,  if  that  were 
posible.  His  men  were  elated  at  the  prospect  of  a  fight, 
and  looked  forward  to  victory  as  certain,  and  the  posses- 
sion of  corn  and  clothes  in  plenty,  and  of  captives  to 
carry  their  tusks  and  baggage  for  them.  As  they  waited, 
and  ate  the  meat  by  their  camp-fire,  they  said,  "  You 
have  seen  us  with  elephants,  but  you  don't  know  yet  what 
we  can  do  with  men." 

By  the  time  breakfast  was  despatched,  Mpende's  whole 
tribe  was  assembled  at  about  half  a  mile  distance  from 
their  encampment.  Spies,  who  refused  to  answer  any 
questions,  advanced  from  among  the  trees  which  hid  the 
position  of  the  main  body,  up  to  the  encampment  of  the 
party.  To  two  of  these,  Livingstone  handed  the  leg  of 
an  ox,  desiring  them  to  carry  it  to  Mpende.  This  brought 
a  visit  from  two  old  men,  who  asked  Livingstone  who  he 


PREPARING  FOR  BATTLE, 


137 


was.  "  I  am  a  Lekoa  "  [Englishman],  he  replied.  "  We 
don't  know  the  tribe,"  they  said  ;  "  we  suppose  you  are 
Mozunga  [Portuguese] ,  with  whom  we  have  been  fight- 
ing." As  the  Portuguese  they  knew  were  half-castes, 
Livingstone  bared  his  bosom,  and  asked  if  they  had  hair 
and  skin  like  his.  "  No,"  they  replied  :  "we  never  saw 
skin  so  white  as  that.  Ah !  you  must  be  one  of  that 
tribe  that  loves  the  black  man." 

Through  the  intercession  of  one  of  these  men,  Sindese 
Oalea,  the  head  man  of  a  neighboring  village,  Mpende, 
after  a  long  discussion  with  his  councillors,  was  induced 
to  believe  Livingstone's  story,  and  to  treat  him  and  his 
party  with  great  generosity  and  kindness.  Sekwebu  was 
sent  to  the  chief  with  a  request  that  he  might  be  permit- 
ted to  buy  a  canoe  to  convey  one  of  his  men,  who  was  ill. 
Mpende  said,  4 'That  white  man  is  truly  one  of  our 
friends.  See  how  he  lets  me  know  his  afflictions."  — 
"Ah !  "  said  Sekwebu,  "  if  you  only  knew  him  as  well  as 
we  do  who  have  lived  with  him,  you  would  understand 
that  he  highly  values  your  friendship,  and  that  of  Mbu- 
rumba  ;  and,  as  he  is  a  stranger,  he  trusts  in  you  to  direct 
him."  He  replied,  "  Well,  he  ought  to  cross  to  the  other 
side  of  the  river  ;  for  this  bank  is  hilly  and  rough,  and  the 
way  to  Tete  is  longer  on  this  than  on  the  opposite  bank." 
—  "But  who  will  take  us  across  if  you  do  not?"  — 
u  Truly,"  replied  Mpende  :  "I  only  wish  you  had  come 
sooner  to  tell  me  about  him ;  but  you  shall  cross."  And 
cross  they  did,  leaving  the  place  in  very  different  spirits 
from  those  with  which  they  had  approached  his  village. 

The  people  here,  and  lower  down  the  river,  he  found 
well  supplied  with  cotton  goods,  which  they  purchased 
from  the  Babisa,  a  tribe  farther  to  the  east,  who  had  been 
doing  all  the  trade  with  the  interior  during  the  two  years 
12* 


138  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.P. 

the  war  with  the  Portuguese  had  lasted.  Beyond  the 
range  of  hills  to  the  north,  lived  a  tribe  called  Basenga, 
who  are  great  traders  in  iron-ore  ;  and  beyond  them,  again, 
in  a  country  where  the  Portuguese  had  at  one  time  washed 
for  gold,  lived  a  people  called  Maravi,  who  are  skilful 
agriculturists,  raising,  in  addition  to  corn  and  maize,  sweet 
potatoes,  which  grow  to  a  great  size  in  the  fertile  soil  of 
the  district,  and  which  they  haye  learned  to  preserve  for 
future  use  by  burying  them  in  the  ground,  embedded  in 
wood-ashes.  The  ground  on  the  north  side  of  the  river 
appeared  to  be  much  more  fertile  than  that  on  the  southr 
In  many  places,  he  found  evidences  that  coal  was  abun- 
dant. 

A  little  way  down  the  river,  they  arrived  opposite  an 
island  belonging  to  a  chief  called  Mozinkwa.  Here  they 
were  detained  by  heavy  rains,  and  the  illness  of  one  of 
the  Batoka  men,  who  died.  He  had  required  to  be  car- 
ried by  his  fellows  for  several  days,  and,  when  his  case  be- 
came hopeless,  they  wanted  to  leave  him  alone  to  die ; 
but  to  such  an  inhuman  proposal,  Livingstone  could  not, 
of  course,  give  his  consent.  Here,  one  of  the  Batoka 
men  deserted  openly  to  Mozinkwa ;  stating,  as  his  reason, 
that  the  Makololo  had  killed  both  his  father  and  his 
mother,  and  that  he  would  not  remain  any  longer  with 
them. 

Towards  the  end  of  January,  they  were  again  on  their 
way  ;  and  early  in  February,  as  his  men  were  almost  in  a 
state  of  nudity,  Livingstone  gave  two  tusks  for  some  cal- 
ico, marked  Lawrence  Mills,  Lowell,  U.S.  The  clayey 
soil,  and  the  sand-filled  rivulets,  made  their  progress  slow 
and  difficult.  The  sand-rivers  are  water-courses  in  sandy 
bottoms,  which  are  full  during  the  rainy  season,  and  dry 
at  other  times ;  although,  on  digging  a  few  feet  into  the 


SAND-RIVERS. 


139 


bed  of  the  stream,  water  is  found  percolating  on  a  stra- 
tum of  clay.  "  This,"  Livingstone  says,  "  is  the  phenome 
non  which  is  dignified  by  the  name  of  rivers  flowing  under 
ground."  In  trying  to  ford  one  of  these  sand-rivers  — 
the  Zingesi  —  in  flood,  he  says,  "  I  felt  thousands  of  par- 
ticles of  coarse  sand  striking  my  legs  ;  and  the  slight  dis- 
turbance of  our  footsteps  caused  deep  holes  to  be  made 
in  the  bed.  The  water  .  .  .  dug  out  the  sand  beneath 
the  feet  in  a  second  or  two ;  and  we  were  all  sinking,  by 
that  means,  so  deep  that  we  were  glad  to  relinquish  the 
attempt  to  ford  it  before  we  got  half-way  over.  The  oxen 
were  carried  away  down  to  the  Zambesi.  These  sand- 
rivers  remove  vast  masses  of  disintegrated  rock  before  it 
is  fine  enough  to  form  soil.  The  man  who  preceded  me 
was  only  thigh-deep  ;  but  the  disturbance  caused  by  his 
feet  made  it  breast-deep  for  me.  The  stream  of  particles 
of  gravel  which  struck  against  my  legs  gave  me  the  idea 
that  the  amount  of  matter  removed  by  every  freshet  must 
be  very  great.  In  most  rivers  where  much  wearing  is  go- 
ing on,  a  person  diving  to  the  bottom  may  hear,  literally, 
thousands  of  stones  knocking  against  each  other.  This 
attrition,  being  carried  on  for  hundreds  of  miles  in  differ- 
ent rivers,  must  have  an  effect  greater  than  if  all  the  pes- 
tles and  mortar  mills  of  the  world  were  grinding  and 
wearing  away  the  rocks." 

The  party  were  now  in  a  district  where  a  species  of 
game-law  exists.  If  an  elephant  is  killed  by  a  stranger, 
or  a  man  from  a  neighboring  village,  living  under  another 
chief,  the  under-half  of  the  carcass  belongs  to  the  lord  of 
the  soil ;  nor  must  the  hunter  commence  to  cut  it  up  until 
the  chief  claiming  the  half,  or  one  of  his  head  men,  is 
present.  The  hind-leg  of  a  buffalo,  and  a  large  piece  of 
an  elephant,  must  be  given,  in  like  circumstances,  to  the 


140  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


occupier  of  the  land  on  which  they  were  grazing  when 
shot.  The  number  of  rivulets  and  rivers  enable  them  to 
mark  out  their  territory  with  great  exactness.  In  this 
district,  the  huts  are  built  on  high  stages  in  the  gardens, 
as  a  protection  from  the  attacks  of  the  spotted  hyena,  and 
lions  and  elephants. 

Before  leaving  the  land  of  a  chief  named  Nyampungo, 
who  had  entertained  them  hospitably,  Livingstone's  men 
killed  a  bull-elephant,  and  had  to  wait  a  day  until  some 
of  the  chiefs  people  came  to  superintend  the  cutting-up, 
and  secure  his  half  of  the  animal.  Nyampungo's  men 
brought  with  them  a  basket  of  corn,  a  fowl,  and  a  few 
strings  of  handsome  beads,  as  a  thank-offering  for  having 
killed  the  elephant.  While  they  were  cutting  up  and 
cooking  the  carcass,  a  large  number  of  hyenas  collected 
round  them  at  a  respectable  distance,  "  and  kept  up  a 
loud  laughter  for  two  nights.  I  asked  my  men  what  the 
hyenas  were  laughing  at,  as  they  usually  give  animals 
credit  for  a  share  of  intelligence.  They  said  that  they 
were  laughing  because  we  could  not  take  the  whole,  and 
that  they  would  have  plenty  to  eat  as  well  as  us." 

Speaking  of  the  birds  of  Central  Africa,  he  says, 
' '  These  African  birds  have  not  been  wanting  in  song : 
they  have  only  lacked  poets  to  sing  their  praise,  which 
ours  have  had  from  the  time  of  Aristophanes  downwards. 
Ours  have  both  a  classic  and  a  modern  interest  to  enhance 
their  fame.  In  hot,  dry  weather,  or  at  mid-day,  when  the 
sun  is  fierce,  all  are  still :  let,  however,  a  good  shower 
fall,  and  all  burst  forth  at  once  into  merry  lays,  and  loving 
courtship.  The  early  mornings,  and  the  cool  evenings,  are 
the  times  for  singing." 

In  the  Mopane  country,  they  met  with  numbers  of  a  red- 
beaked  variety  of  hornbill,  which  builds  its  nest  in  an 


ONE  OF  THE  MEN  DISAPPEARS. 


141 


aperture  in  a  tree.  When  the  nest  is  built,  the  female  re- 
tires into  it,  while  the  male  covers  the  orifice  with  clay,  all 
save  a  narrow  slit  for  the  introduction  of  air,  and  for  feed- 
ing her ;  which  the  devoted  bird  does  until  the  eggs  are 
hatched.  As  the  female  is  very  fat  at  such  times,  the 
natives  search  for  their  nests,  and  capture  and  eat  them. 
Lions  were  abundant,  and  were  treated  as  privileged  ani- 
mals by  the  natives  ;  no  one  attempting  to  hunt  them,  as 
it  is  supposed  that,  when  a  chief  dies,  he  can  metamor- 
phose himself  into  a  lion. 

At  the  village  of  a  chief  called  Monina,  Monahin,  one 
of  Livingstone's  men,  disappeared  during  the  night.  Ac 
he  had  been  ill  for  some  time,  and  had  complained  of  his 
head,  Livingstone  imagined  that  he  had  wandered,  in  an 
insane  state,  and  been  picked  up  by  a  lion.  They  prowled 
about  the  native  settlements,  at  night,  with  great  boldness, 
making  it  dangerous  for  any  one  to  be  about  after  dark. 
He  had  proved  very  valuable  to  Livingstone,  and  he  felt 
his  loss  greatly.  .The  general  name  of  the  people  of  this 
district  is  Banyai :  they  are  ruled  over  by  several  chiefs, 
the  government  being  a  sort  of  feudal  republican.  The 
people  of  a 'tribe,  on  the  death  of  their  chief,  have  the 
privilege  of  electing  any  one,  even  from  another  tribe,  to 
be  his  successor,  if  they  are  not  satisfied  with  any  of  the 
members  of  his  family.  The  sons  of  the  chiefs  are  not 
eligible  for  election  among  the  Banyai.  The  various 
chiefs  of  the  Ban}rai  acknowledge  allegiance  to  a  head 
chief,  Nyatewe,  holding  the  supreme  position  at  the  time 
of  Livingstone's  visit.  This  custom  appears  to  prevail 
in  South  and  Central  Africa  ;  and,  if  the  chief  who  wields 
supreme  power  is  a  wise  and  prudent  ruler,  the  result  is 
highly  beneficial. 

Among  the  Banyai,  the  women  are  treated  with  great 


142  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


respect,  the  husband  doing  nothing  that  his  wife  disap- 
proves. Notwithstanding  this,  a  barbarous  custom  pre- 
vails amongst  them  if  a  husband  suspects  his  wife  of 
witchcraft  or  infidelity.  A  witch-doctor  is  called,  who 
prepares  the  infusion  of  a  plant  named  goho,  which  the 
suspected  party  drinks,  holding  up  her  hand  to  heaven  in 
attestation  of  her  innocence.  If  the  infusion  causes 
vomiting,  she  is  declared  innocent ;  but,  if  it  causes  pur- 
ging, she  is  held  to  be  guilty,  and  burned  to  death.  In 
many  cases,  the  drinking  of  the  infusion  causes  death. 
This  custom  prevails,  with  modifications,  amongst  most 
of  the  tribes  of  Central  Africa,  and  is  found  as  far  west 
as  Ambaca.  When  a  Banyai  marries,  so  many  head  of 
cattle  or  goats  are  given  to  the  parents ;  and,  unless 
the  wife  is  bought  in  this  way,  the  husband  must  enter  the 
household  of  his  father-in-law,  and  do  menial  offices,  the 
wife  and  her  family  having  exclusive  control  of  the  chil- 
dren. The  Banyai  men  are  a  fine  race  ;  but  the  superior 
courage  and  skill  Livingstone's  men  displayed  in  hunting 
won  the  hearts  of  the  women ;  but  none  of  them  would 
be  tempted  into  matrimony,  where  it  involved  subjection 
to  their  wives. 

Several  of  the  chiefs  through  whose  villages  they  passed 
occasioned  some  trouble  by  disbelieving  the  statement 
of  Livingstone,  that  he  was  unable  to  make  presents.  A 
powerful  chief,  Nyakoba,  who  sympathized  with  their  con- 
dition, gave  them  a  basket  of  maize,  and  another  of  corn, 
and  provided  them  guides  to  Tete,  advising  them  to  shun 
the  villages  so  as  to  avoid  trouble.  This  they  succeeded 
in  doing  till  within  a  few  miles  of  Tete,  where  they  were 
discovered  by  a  party  of  natives,  who  threatened  to  in- 
form Katolosa,  the  head  chief  of  the  district,  that  they 
were  passing  through  the  country  without  leave.    A  pres- 


CIVILIZED  SOCIETY  ONCE  MORE.  lib 


ent  of  two  tusks  satisfied  them,  and  they  were  allowed  to 
depart. 

Within  eight  miles  of  Tete,  Livingstone  was  so  fatigued 
as  to  be  unable  to  go  on,  but  sent  some  of  his  men,  with 
his  letters  of  recommendation,  to  the  commandant.  About 
two  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  3d  of  March,  the 
encampment  was  aroused  by  the  arrival  of  two  officers, 
and  a  company  of  soldiers,  sent  with  a  supply  of  pro- 
visions for  the  party  by  the  commandant.  As  Livingstone 
and  his  men  had  been  compelled  for  several  days  to  live 
on  roots  and  honey,  their  arrival  was  most  timely.  He 
says,  46  It  was  the  most  refreshing  breakfast  I  ever  par- 
took of ;  and  I  walked  the  last  eight  miles  without  the 
least  feeling  of  weariness,  although  the  path  was  so  rough 
that  one  of  the  officers  remarked  to  me,  4  This  is  enough 
to  tear  a  man's  life  out  of  him.'  The  pleasure  experienced 
in  partaking  of  that  breakfast  was  only  equalled  by  the 
enjoyment  of  Mr.  Gabriel's  bed,  when  I  arrived  at  Lo- 
anda.  It  was  also  enhanced  by  the  news  that  Sebastopol 
had  fallen,  and  the  war  was  finished." 

Major  Sicard,  the  Portuguese  commandant  at  Tete, 
treated  Livingstone  and  his  men  with  the  greatest  generos- 
ity. He  clothed  himself  and  his  men,  and  provided  them 
with  food  and  lodgings,  declining  to  receive  several  tusks 
which  were  offered  in  compensation.  As  the  most  of  his 
men  were  to  be  left  here,  Major  Sicard  gave  them  a  por- 
tion of  land  on  which  to  cultivate  their  own  food,  and 
permission  to  hunt  elephants, — the  money  they  made 
from  the  tusks  and  dried  meat  to  be  used  for  the  purchase 
of  articles  to  take  to  Sekeletu  on  their  return. 

Had  Livingstone  set  out  on  his  journey  several  months 
earlier,  he  would  have  arrived  in  the  neighborhood  of  Tete 
during  the  war  between  the  natives  and  the  Portuguese, 


144  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


when  he  would  have  had  little  chance  of  escaping  with  his 
Life.  His  arrival  was  not  unexpected  at  Tete  ;  as  through 
Lord  Clarendon,  and  the  Portuguese  minister,  Count  de 
Lavradio.  the  Portuguese  authorities  on  the  Zambesi  were 
warned  of  his  expected  appearance.  A  short  time  pre- 
vious to  his  arrival,  some  natives  came  down  the  river  to 
Tete.  and  said.  "  alluding  to  the  sextant  and  artificial 
horizon.  *  that  the  Son  of  God  had  come  ; '  and  that  he 
was  •  able  to  take  the  sun  down  from  the  heavens,  and 
place  it  under  his  arm.'  Major  Sicard  then  felt  sure  that 
this  was  the  man  mentioned  in  Lord  Clarendon's  de- 
spatch." 

As  Livingstone  was  in  a  very  emaciated  state,  and  fever 
was  raging  at  Kilimane.  the  point  on  the  coast  to  which 
he  was  bound.  Livingstone  was  induced  to  remain  at  Tete 
for  a  month.  drving  which  he  occupied  himself  by  making 
several  journeys  in  the  neighborhood,  visiting  a  coal-field, 
&c.  The  village  of  Tete  he  found  to  consist  of  a  large 
number  of  wattle-and-daub  native  huts,  with  about  thirty 
•European  houses  built  of  stone.  The  place  had  declined 
greatly  in  importance  through  the  introduction  of  the 
slave-trade.  In  former  times,  considerable  quantities  of 
wheat,  maize,  millet,  coffee,  sugar,  oil.  indigo,  gold-dust, 
and  ivory,  were  exported  ;  and.  as  labor  was  both  abundant 
and  cheap,  the  trade  was  profitable.    Livingstone  says, 

When  the  slave-trade  began,  it  seemed  to  many  of  the 
merchants  a  more  speedy  mode  of  becoming  rich,  to  sell 
off  the  slaves,  than  to  pursue  the  slow  mode  of  gold- 
washing  and  agriculture  ;  and  they  continued  to  export 
fhem  until  they  had  neither  hands  to  labor  nor  to  fight  for 
thein.  .  .  .  The  coffee  and  sugar  plantations,  and  gold- 
washings,  were  abandoned,  because  the  labor  had  been 
exported  to  the  Brazils."    The  neighboring  chiefs  were 


SUFFERINGS  OF  THE  PORTUGUESE.  145 

not  slow  to  take  advantage  of  the  impoverished  state  of 
the  Portuguese  and  half-caste  merchants  of  Tete.  "  A 
clever  man  of  Asiatic  and  Portuguese  extraction,  called 
Nyaude,  had  built  a  stockade  at  the  confluence  of  the 
Luenya  and  Zambesi ;  and,  when  the  commandant  of  Tete 
sent  an  officer  with  his  company  to  summon  him  to  his 
presence,"  they  were  surrounded,  and  bound  hand  and 
foot.  The  commandant  "  then  armed  the  whole  body  of 
slaves,  and  marched  against  the  stockade  of  Nyaude  ; " 
but,  before  they  reached  it,  Njmide  despatched  a  strong 
part}^,  under  his  son  Bonga,  who  attacked  Tete,  plundered 
and  burned  the  whole  town,  with  the  exception  of  the 
house  of  the  commandant,  and  a  few  others,  and  the  church 
and  fort.  The  women  and  children,  having  taken  refuge 
in  the  church,  were  safe,  as  the  natives  of  this  region  will 
never  attack  a  church.  The  news  of  this  disaster  caused 
a  panic  among  the  party  before  the  stockade  of  Nyaude  ; 
and  they  fled  in  confusion,  to  be  slain  or  made  captives 
by  Katolosa,  the  head  chief  of  the  district  to  the  west  of 
Tete. 

Another  half-caste  chief,  called  Kisaka,  on  the  opposite 
bank  of  the  river,  near  where  the  merchants  of  Tete  had 
their  villages  and  principal  plantations,  also  rebelled,  and 
completed  the  defeat  and  impoverishment  of  the  Portu- 
guese. "  An  attempt  was  made  to  punish  this  rebel ;  but 
it  was  unsuccessful,  and  he  has  lately  been  pardoned  by 
the  home  government.  One  point  in  the  narrative  is 
interesting.  They  came  to  a  field  of  sugar-cane  so  large 
that  four  thousand  men,  eating  it  during  two  days,  did 
not  finish  the  whole.  Nyaude  kept  the  Portuguese  shut 
up  in  their  fort  for  two  years  ;  and,  as  he  held  the  command 
of  the  river,  they  could  only  get  goods  sufficient  to  buy 
food  by  sending  to  Kilimane,  by  an  overland  route,  along 

13 


146  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


the  north  bank  of  the  Zambesi."  The  memory  of  one 
man's  sufferings  in  this  affair  evoked  the  following  from 
Livingstone:  44  The  mother  country  did  not,  in  these 
4  Caffre  wars,'  pay  the  bills  :  so  no  one  became  rich,  or 
blamed  the  missionaries.  Major  Sicard,  from  his  gool 
character,  had  great  influence  with  the  natives,  and  put  a 
stop  to  the  war,  more  than  once,  by  his  mere  presence  on 
the  spot.  TTe  heard  of  him  among  the  Banyai,  as  a  man 
with  whom  they  would  never  fight,  because  he  had  a  good 
heart."  No  doubt  the  influence  of  this  good  and  generous 
man  helped  Livingstone  and  his  party  in  their  march 
through  the  districts  which  had  so  recently  been  disturbed. 

In  consequence  of  a  sudden  change  of  temperature, 
Major  Sicard  and  Livingstone,  and  nearly  every  person  in 
the  house,  suffered  from  an  attack  of  fever.  Livingstone 
soon  recovered,  and  was  unremitting  in  his  attention  to 
the  others.  His  stock  of  quinine  becoming  exhausted, 
his  attention  was  drawn  by  the  Portuguese  to  a  tree  called 
b}7  the  natives  kumbanzo,  the  bark  of  which  is  an  admir- 
able substitute.  He  says,  44  There  was  little  of  it  to  be 
found  at  Tete  ;  while  forests  of  it  are  at  Senna,  and  near 
the  delta  of  Kilimane.  It  seems  quite  a  providential 
arrangement,  that  the  remedy  for  fever  should  be  found 
in  the  greatest  abundance  where  it  is  most  needed.  .  .  . 
The  thick,  soft  bark  of  the  root  is  the  part  used  by  the 
natives :  the  Portuguese  use  that  of  the  tree  itself.  I 
immediately-  began  to  use  a  decoction  of  the  bark  of  the 
root ;  and  rny  men  found  it  so  efficacious,  that  they  col- 
lected small  quantities  of  it  for  themselves,  and  kept  it  in 
little  bags  for  future  use." 

On  the  2 2d  of  April,  Livingstone  started  on  his  voyage 
down  the  river  to  Kilimane,  having  selected  sixteen  men 
from  among  his  party  who  could  manage  canoes.  Many 


ARRIVAL  AT  THE  EAST  COAST. 


147 


more  wished  to  accompany  him  ;  but  as  there  was  a  famine 
at  Kilimane  in  consequence  of  a  failure  of  the  crops, 
during  which  thousands  of  slaves  were  dying  of  hunger, 
he  could  take  no  more  than  was  absolutely  necessary. 
The  commandant  sent  Lieut.  Miranda  with  Living- 
stone, to  convey  him  to  the  coast.  At  Senna,  where  they 
stopped,  they  found  a  more  complete  ruin  and  prostration 
than  at  Tete.  For  fifteen  miles  from  the  head  of  the 
delta  of  the  Zambesi,  the  Mutu,  which  is  the  head  waters 
of  the  Kilimane  River,  and  the  only  outlet  to  the  Zambesi, 
was  not  navigable  ;  and  the  party  had  to  walk  under  the 
hot  sun.  This,  together  with  the  fatigue,  brought  on  a 
severe  attack  of  "fever,  from  which  Livingstone  suffered 
greatly.  At  Interra,  where  the  Pangaze,  a  considerable 
river,  falls  into  the  Mutu,  navigation  became  practicable. 
The  party  were  hospitably  entertained  by  Senhor  Asevedo, 
"  a  man  who  is  well  known  by  all  who  ever  visited  Kili- 
mane, and  who  was  presented  with  a  gold  chronometer 
watch  by  the  admiralty,  for  his  attentions  to  English 
officers."  He  gave  the  party  the  use  of  his  sailing  launch, 
for  the  remainder  of  the  journey,  which  came  to  its  con- 
clusion at  Kilimane,  on  the  20th  of  May,  1856  ;  "  which 
wanted  only  a  few  days  of  being  four  years  since  I  started 
from  Cape  Town."  At  Kilimane,  Col.  Galdino  Jose 
Nunes  received  him  into  his  house,  and  treated  him  with 
marked  hospitality.  For  three  years  he  had  never  nearcl 
from  his  family  direct,  as  none  of  the  letters  s£nt  had 
reached  him.  He  had  now  the  gratification  of  receiving 
a  letter  from  Admiral  Trotter,  "  conveying  information 
of  their  welfare,  and  some  newspapers,  which  were  a  treat 
indeed.  Her  Majesty's  brig  c  The  Frolic '  had  called  to 
inquire  for  me  in  the  November  previous ;  and  Capt. 
Nolloth  of  that  ship  had  most  considerately  left  a  case 


148  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

of  ^  ine ;  and  his  surgeon,  Dr.  James  Walsh,  divining 
what  I  should  need  most,  left  an  ounce  of  quinine.  These 
gifts  made  my  heart  overflow.  .  .  .  But  my  joy  on  reach- 
ing the  coast  was  sadly  imbittered  by  the  news  that  Com- 
mander M>Lune,  of  her  Majesty's  brigantine  '  Dart,'  in 
coming  into  Kilimane  to  pick  me  up,  had,  with  Lieut. 
Woodruff e  and  five  men,  been  lost  on  the  bar.  I  never 
felt  more  poignant  sorrow.  It  seemed  as  if  it  would  have 
been  easier  for  me  to  have  died  for  them,  than  that  they 
should  all  have  been  cut  off  from  the  joys  of  life,  in  gen- 
erously attempting  to  render  me  a  service."  In  speaking 
of  the  many  kind  attentions  he  received  while  at  Kilimane, 
he  says,  "One  of  the  discoveries  I  have  made  is,  that 
there  are  vast  numbers  of  good  people  in  the  world ;  and 
I  do  most  devoutly  tender  my  unfeigned  thanks  to  that 
gracious  One,  who  mercifully  watched  over  me  in  every 
position,  and  influenced  the  hearts  of  both  black  and 
white  to  regard  me  with  favor." 

Ten  of  the  smaller  tusks  belonging  to  Sekeletu  were 
sold  to  purchase  calico  and  brass-wire  for  the  use  of  his 
attendants  at  Tete  ;  the  remaining  twenty  being  left  with 
Col.  Nunes,  with  orders  to  sett  them,  and  give  the  pro- 
ceeds to  them  in  the  event  of  his  death,  or  failure  to  return 
to  Africa.  Livingstone  explained  all  this  to  the  Mako- 
lolo,  who  had  accompanied  him  to  Kilimane  ;  when  they 
answered,  "Nay,  father,  you  will  not  die  :  you  will  return 
to  take  us  back  to  Sekeletu."  Their  mutual  confidence 
was  perfect.  They  promised  to  remain  at  Tete  until  he 
returned  to  them  ;  and  he  assured  them  that  nothing  but 
death  would  prevent  his  rejoining  them.  The  kindness 
and  generosity  of  the  Portuguese  merchants  and  officers 
have  already  been  alluded  to.  These  were  continued  to  his 
men  during  his  absence ;  and  the  young  King  of  Portu- 


SAILS  FOR  ENGLAND. 


149 


gal,  Don  Pedro,  as  soon  as  he  heard  of  their  being  in  his 
territory,  sent  orders  that  they  should  ">e  maintained  at 
the  public  expense  of  the  province  and  Mozambique, 
until  Livingstone  should  return  to  claim  them.  Their 
kind  attentions  gladdened  his  heart. 

After  waiting  about  six  weeks  at  Kilimane,  "  The  Frolic  " 
arrived,  bringing  abundant  supplies  for  all  his  needs,  and 
a  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  to  pay  his  passage  home,  from 
the  agent  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  at  the  Cape. 
The  admiral  at  the  Cape  sent  an  offer  of  a  free  passage 
to  the  Mauritius,  which  Livingstone  gladly  accepted.  As 
six  of  the  eight  of  his  attendants  wTho  had  accompanied 
him  to  Kilimane  had,  by  his  instructions,  gone  back  to 
Tete  to  await  his  return,  while  the  other  eight  who  had 
accompanied  him  as  far  as  the  delta  of  the  Zambesi  had 
also  returned,  only  two  were  left  with  him  when  "  The 
Frolic  "  arrived.  One  of  these  was  Sekwebu,  who  had 
been  so  useful  throughout  the  journey  that  he  determined 
to  take  him  to  England  with  him,  so  that  he  might  be 
able  to  tell  Sekeletu  and  the  Makololo  what  sort  of  coun- 
try England  was,  and  further  increase  the  confidence  and 
trust  already  reposed  in  him  and  in  his  countrymen  gen- 
erally. The  other  one  begged  hard  to  be  permitted  to 
accompany  them ;  and  it  is  a  matter  for  regret  that  the 
expense  alone  prevented  Livingstone  from  acceding  to  his 
wishes.  There  was  a  heavy  sea  on  when  they  crossed 
the  bar  to  "  The  Frolic  ; "  and,  as  this  was  Sekwebu's  first 
introduction  to  the  ocean,  he  appeared  frightened.  On 
board  ship,  he  seemed  to  get  accustomed  to  his  novel  situ- 
ation, picked  up  a  few  words  of  English,  and  ingratiated 
himself  with  the  crew,  who  treated  him  with  great  kind- 
ness. 

During  all  this  time,  there  was,  although  unnoticed,  a 

13* 


150  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

strain  upon  his  untutored  mind,  which  reached  its  climax 
when  a  steamer  came  out  to  tow  4  6  The  Frolic  "  into  the 
harbor  at  the  Mauritius.  The  terror  at  the  sight  of  the 
uncouth,  panting  monster,  with  its  volume  of  smoke,  cul- 
minated in  madness,  and  he  descended  into  a  boat  along- 
side. On  Livingstone  following  him  to  bring  him  back, 
he  said,  "  No,  no!  It  is  enough  that  I  die  alone.  You 
must  not  perish.  If  you  come,  I  shall  throw  myself  into 
the  water."  Noticing  then  that  his  mind  was  affected, 
Livingstone  said,  "Now,  Sekwebu,  we  are.  going  to  Ma- 
Robert."  This  had  a  calming  effect  upon  his  mind  ;  and 
he  said,  u  Oh,  yes  !  where  is  she?  and  where  is  Robert  ?" 
(Livingstone's  son.)  The  officers  proposed  to  put  him  in 
irons  for  a  time  ;  but  Livingstone  fearing  that  this  would 
wound  his  pride,  and  that  it  might  be  said  in  his  own 
country  that  he  had  bound  him  like  a  slave,  unfortunately 
would  not  consent  to  this.  "In  the  evening  a  fresh 
accession  of  insanity  occurred  :  he  tried  to  spear  one  of 
the  crew,  then  leaped  overboard,  and,  though  he  could 
swim  well,  pulled  himself  down  hand  under  hand,  by  the 
chain  cable.    We  never  found  the  body  of  Sekwebu." 

At  the  Mauritius,  Livingstone  was  hospitably  enter- 
tained by  Major-Gen.  C.  M.  Hay,  and  was  induced  to 
remain  some  time  to  recruit  his  shattered  health.  On  the 
12th  of  December,  1856,  he  arrived  in  England,  after  an 
absence  of  seventeen  years  ;  the  Peninsular  and  Oriental 
Steam  Company  generously  refunding  his  passage-money, 
when  made  aware  of  the  distinguished  personage  they 
had  had  the  honor  of  carrying.  On  the  day  preceding 
his  arrival,  u  The  Times"  informed  the  country  that 
"The  Rev.  Dr.  Livingstone  had  arrived  at  Marseilles 
from  Tunis,  on  the  6th  inst.,  and  was  then  in  good 
health.     His  left  arm  is,  however,  broken,  and  partly 


PERSONAL  APPEARANCE. 


151 


useless,  it  having  been  torn  by  a  lion.  When  ho  was 
taken  on  board  '  The  Frolic '  on  the  Mozambique  coast, 
he  had  great  difficulty  in  speaking  a  word  of  English, 
having  disused  it  so  long  while  travelling  in  Africa.  .  .  . 
He  is  rather  a  short  man,  with  a  pleasing  and  serious 
countenance,  which  betokens  the  most  determined  resolu- 
tion. He  continued  to  wear  the  cap  wldch  he  wore  while 
performing  his  wonderful  travels.  .  .  .  He  never  spoke 
of  his  travels  except  in  answer  to  quest  ons." 


CHAPTER  IX. 


ARRIVES   IN    ENGLAND.  ENTHUSIASTIC   RECEPTION.  DE- 
PARTS AGAIN  FOR  THE  ZAMBESI.  ARRIVES  AT  THE  KON- 

GONE  MOUTH  OF  THAT  RIVER.  PASSES  UP  THE  ZAMBESI. 

At  Cape  Town  a  meeting  was  held  on  the  12th  of  No- 
vember, 1856,  for  the  purpose  of  taking  steps  to  express 
the  public  sense  of  the  eminent  services  rendered  to  sci- 
ence, civilization,  and  Christianity  by  Dr.  Livingstone. 
Sir  George  Grey,  the  governor,  who  occupied  the  chair, 
said,  "I  think  no  man  of  the  present  day  is  more  de- 
serving of  honor  than  Dr.  Livingstone,  —  a  man  whom 
we,  indeed,  can  hardly  regard  as  belonging  to  any  partic- 
ular age  or  time,  but  who  belongs,  rather,  to  the  whole 
Christian  epoch ;  possessing  all  those  qualities  of  mind, 
and  that  resolute  desire,  at  all  risks,  to  spread  the  gospel, 
which  we  have  generally  been  in  the  habit  of  attributing 
solely  to  those  who  lived  in  the  first  ages  of  the  Christian 
era.  Indeed,  that  man  must  be  of  almost  apostolic  char- 
acter, who,  animated  by  a  desire  of  performing  his  duty 
to  his  Maker  and  to  his  fellow-men,  has  performed  jour- 
neys which  we  cannot  but  regard  as  altogether  marvel- 
lous." The  bishop  of  Cape  Town,  the  judges,  and  other 
government  officials,  took  part  in  the  proceedings,  which 
were  of  a  most  enthusiastic  character.  The  meeting  re- 
solved to  enter  into  a  subscription  for  a  testimonial  to  the 
great  traveller,  which  Sir  George  Grey  headed  with  a  dona- 
tion of  Hfty  pounds. 

152 


ARRIVES  IN  ENGLAND. 


153 


In  England  curiosity  had  been  excited  by  the  appear- 
ance of  short  paragraphs  in  the  newspapers,  treating  of  his 
discoveries  ;  but  it  was  not  until  the  meeting  of  the  Royal 
Geographical  Society,  on  the  15th  of  December,  or.  which 
occasion  the  Society's  gold  medal  was  presented  to  the 
distinguished  traveller,  that  the  magnitude  of  his  discov- 
eries, and  the  heroic  character  of  the  man,  came  to  be 
properly  understood.  Next  day  the  London  Missionary 
Society  honored  him  with  a  public  reception  in  Freema- 
son's Hall ;  and  in  the  evening  he  was  entertained  at  a 
dinner  by  the  society  at  the  Milton  Club,  Ludgate  Hill. 
Both  gatherings  were  attended  by  a  numerous  and  dis- 
tinguished assemblage.  At  the  latter,  Mrs.  Livingstone 
was  present  in  the  gallery,  and  received  a  share  in  the 
ovation  with  her  husband. 

A  great  meeting  was  held  in  the  Eg}rptian  Hall,  Man- 
sion House,  the  lord  mayor  in  the  chair,  for  the  purpose 
of  raising  a  fund  towards  presenting  a  testimonial  to  Dr. 
Livingstone.  Upwards  of  four  hundred  and  fift}7  pounds 
was  subscribed  in  the  room.  Addresses  poured  in  upon 
the  great  traveller  from  all  quarters.  The  Universities 
of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  conferred  the  degree  of  D.C.L. 
and  LL.D.  on  him  respectively.  In  his  own  country, 
Edinburgh,  Glasgow,  Hamilton,  &c,  presented  him  with 
the  freedom  of  their  corporations,  and  entertained  him 
at  banquets,  &c.  His  appearance  and  manner  on  the? 
platform,  at  this  time,  were  thus  described  in  u  The  Non- 
conformist Newspaper:"  — 

"A  foreign-looking  person,  plainly  and  rather  care- 
less, j  dressed,  of  middle  height,  bony  frame,  and  Gaelic 
countenance,  with  short-cropped  hair  and  mustachios, 
and  generally  plain  exterior,  rises  to  address  the  meeting. 
He  appears  to  be  about  foiiy  years  of  age .    His  face  is 


154 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


deeply  farrowed,  and  pretty  well  tanned.  It  indicates 
a  man  of  quick  and  keen  discernment,  strong  impulses, 
inflexible  resolution,  and  habitual  self-command.  Un an- 
imated, its  most  characteristic  expression  is  that  of  se- 
verh"y ;  when  excited,  a  varied  expression  of  earnest  and 
benevolent  feeling,  and  remarkable  enjoyment  of  the  ludi- 
crous in  circumstances  and  character,  passes  over  it.  .  .  . 
When  he  speaks,  you  think  him,  at  first,  to  be  a  French- 
man ;  but,  as  he  tells  a  Scotch  anecdote  in  true  Glas- 
gowegian  dialect,  you  make  up  your  mind  that  he  must  be, 
as  his  face  indicates,  a  countryman  from  the  north.  His 
command  of  his  mother-tongue  being  imperfect,  he  apolo- 
gizes for  his  broken,  hesitating  speech,  by  informing  you 
that  he  has  not  spoken  }^our  language  for  nearly  sixteen 
years  ;  and  then  he  tells  you,  as  but  a  modest  yet  earnest 
man  can,  concerning  his  travels.  .  .  .  His  narrative 
is  not  very  connected  ;  and  his  manner  is  awkward,  except- 
ing once,  when  he  justifies  his  enthusiasm,  and  once, 
when  he  graphically  describes  the  great  cataract  of  Cen- 
tral Africa.  He  ends  a  speech  of  natural  eloquence,  and 
witty  simplicity,  by  saying  that  he  has  '  begun  his  work, 
and  will  carry  it  on.'  His  broken  thanks  are  drowned  by 
the  applause  of  the  audience." 

The  press  was  not  slow  to  acknowledge  the  greatness 
and  importance  of  the  discoveries  he  had  made,  nor 
stinted  in  its  admiration  of  the  manner  in  which  he  carried 
out  his  self-imposed  task.  u  The  Star"  said,  "We  be- 
lieve, that,  along  the  whole  line  of  eleven  thousand  miles 
which  he  traversed  in  Africa,  the  name  of  Dr.  Living- 
stone will  awaken  no  memories  of  wrong  or  pain  in  the 
heart  of  man,  woman,  or  child,  and  will  rouse  no  purposes 
of  vengeance  to  fall  on  the  head  of  the  next  European 
visitor  that  may  follow  in  his  footsteps.-   His  experience 


PUBLIC  APPEARANCE  IN  ENGLAND.  155 

has  utterly  belied  the  truculent  theory  of  those  vrho  main- 
tain that  barbarous  and  semi -barbarous  nations  can  ba 
influenced  only  by  an  appeal  to  their  fears,  and  that  the 
safety  of  the  traveller  consists  in  a  prompt  and  peremp- 
tory display  of  force.  .  .  .  Dr.  Livingstone,  clothing 
himself  in  a  panoply  of  Christian  kindness,  passed  un- 
scathed among  the  warlike  African  tribes,  and  won  them 
to  an  exhibition  of  a  noble  generosity  of  character  towards 
himself  and  his  companions."  The  "leader"  wound  up 
an  elegant  tribute  with  the  following  :  — 

"For  seventeen  years,  smitten  by  more  than  thirty 
attacks  of  fever,  endangered  by  seven  attempts  upon  his 
life,  continually  exposed  to  fatigue,  hunger,  and  the 
chance  of  perishing  miserably  in  a  wilderness,  shut  out 
from  the  knowledge  of  civilized  men,  the  missionary  pur- 
sued his  way,  an  apostle  and  a  pioneer,  without  fear,  and 
without  egotism,  without  desire  of  reward.  Such  a  work, 
accomplished  by  such  a  man,  deserves  all  the  eulogy  that 
can  be  bestowed  upon  it ;  for  nothing  is  more  rare  than 
brilliant  and  unsullied  success." 

Dr.  Livingstone  remained  in  England  until  the  10th 
of  March,  1858,  in  the  interval  publishing  his  "Mission- 
ary Travels  in  South  Africa  ; "  a  task  which  he  found  so 
irksome  as  to  induce  him  to  say  that  he  would  rather 
cross  the  continent  of  Africa,  from  coast  to  coast,  once 
more,  than  write  another  book.  Finding  that  his  freedom 
of  future  action  might  be  encumbered  by  his  continuing 
his  connection  with  the  Missionary  Society,  he  separated 
himself  from  it.  His  pay  as  a  missionary  was  too  small 
for  the  calls  upon  him  as  a  son,  a  husband,  and  a  father , 
and  he  concluded,  not  unnaturally,  that  funds  would  be 
forthcoming,  through  the  aid  of  government  or  otherwise, 
to  enable  him  to  continue  his  efforts  for  the  opening  up 


156  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

of  the  interior  of  Africa  for  legitimate  commerce,  and  the 
suppression  of  the  slave-trade.  "While  I  hope  to  con- 
tinue the  same  cordial  co-operation  and  friendship  which 
has  always  characterized  our  intercourse,  various  reasons 
induced  me  to  withdraw  from  pecuniary  dependence  on 
any  society.  I  have  done  something  for  the  heathen ; 
but  for  an  aged  mother,  who  has  still  more  sacred  claims 
than  they,  I  have  been  able  to  do  nothing ;  and  a  con- 
tinuance of  the  connection  would  be  a  perpetuation  of 
my  inability  to  make  any  provision  for  her  declining 
years." 

Lord  Palmerston,  who  was  then  at  the  head  of  her 
Majesty's  government,  readily  assented  to  rendering  as- 
sistance to  enable  him  to  prosecute  his  researches  on  the 
Zambesi  River.  Lord  Clarendon  then  held  the  seals  of 
the  Foreign  Office ;  and,  under  his  auspices,  a  mission 
was  formed,  and  means  furnished  to  enable  Dr.  Living- 
stone to  provide  himself  with  efficient  assistance  and 
equipment  for  the  proper  prosecution  of  his  new  enter- 
prise. His  brother  Charles  Livingstone,  who  had  joined 
him  from  the  United  States,  Dr.  Kirk,  and  Mr.  R.  Thorn- 
ton, w^ere  appointed  his  assistants.  A  small  steamer, 
constructed  of  steel,  and  christened  the  "Ma- Robert" 
in  honor  of  Mrs.  Livingstone,  was  constructed  for  the 
navigation  of  the  Zambesi. 

The  party  proceeded  to  the  Cape  on  board  her  Ma- 
jesty's  colonial  steamship  "Pearl,"  where  they  were  joined 
by  Mr.  Francis  Skead,  R.N.,  as  survej^or,  and  arrived 
off  the  mouths  of  the  Zambesi  in  May.  The  real  mouths 
of  the  Zambesi  were  little  known,  as  the  Portuguese  gov- 
ernment had  let  it  be  understood  that  the  Kilimane  wTas 
the  only  navigable  outlet  of  the  river.  This  w^as  done  to 
Induce  the  English  cruisers  emploj^ed  in  the  suppressiou 


ON  THE  ZAMBESI  AGAIN. 


157 


of  the  slave-trade  to  watch  the  false  mouth  while  slaves 
were  quietly  shipped  from  the  true  one ;  this  deception 
being  propagated,  even  after  the  publication  of  Living- 
stone's discoveries,  in  a  map  issued  by  the  Portuguese 
colonial  minister.  The  "Ma-Robert"  was  put  together 
and  launched,  and  four  inlets  to  the  river,  each  of  them 
superior  to  the  Kilimane,  discovered  and  examined.  The 
four  mouths  are  known  as  the  Milambe,  the  Luabo,  the 
Timbwe,  and  the  Kongone  ;  the  latter  being  selected  as 
the  most  navigable. 

Dr.  Livingstone's  manly  exposure  of  the  deception 
practised  by  the  Portuguese  government  for  the  purpose 
of  encouraging  the  slave-trade,  excited  the  wrath  and 
jealousy  of  the  Portuguese  government,  who  have  vainly 
endeavored  to  throw  discredit  upon  his  discoveries.  This 
feeling  was  not  shared  b}7  the  local  authorities,  who  were 
really  ignorant  of  the  existence  of  the  true  channel,  and 
showed  their  appreciation  of  his  discovery  by  establishing 
a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kongone. 

Steaming  up  the  channel,  the  natives  retreating  in  ter- 
ror at  their  approach,  the  party  had  an  opportunity  of 
admiring  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  the  abundant  ani- 
mal and  vegetable  life  with  which  the  delta  abounds. 
The  delta  is  much. larger  than  that  of  the  Nile,  and,  if 
properly  cultivated,  would,  Livingstone  thinks,  grow  as 
much  sugar-cane  as  would  supply  the  wants  of  the  whole 
of  Europe.  The  dark  woods  of  the  delta  "resound  with 
the  lively  and  exultant  cries  of  the  kinghunter,  as  he  sits 
perched  on  high  among  the  trees.  As  the  steamer  moves 
on  through  the  winding  channel,  a  pretty  little  heron  or 
bright  kingfisher  darts  out  in  alarm  from  the  edge  of  the 
bank.  The  magnificent  fish-hawk  sits  on  the  top  of  a 
mangrove-tree,  digesting  his  morning  meal  of  fresh  fish, 

14 


158  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


and  is  clearly  unwilling  to  stir  until  the  imminence  of  the 
danger  compels  him  at  last  to  spread  his  great  wings  for 
flight.  The  glossy  ibis,  acute  of  ear  to  a  remarkable 
degree,  hears  from  afar  the  unwonted  sound  of  the  pad- 
dles ;  and,  springing  from  the  mud  where  his  family  has 
been  quietly  feasting,  is  off  screaming  out  his  loud,  harsh, 
and  defiant  c  Ha,  ha,  ha  ! '  long  before  the  danger  is  near. 

"The  mangroves  are  now  left  behind,  and  are  suc- 
ceeded by  vast,  level  plains  of  rich,  dark  soil,  covered  with 
gigantic  grasses,  so  tall  that  they  tower  over  one's  head, 
and  render  hunting  impossible.  Beginning  in  Jury,  the 
grass  is  burned  off  every  year  after  it  has  become  dry.  .  .  . 
Several  native  huts  now  peep  out  from  the  bananas  and 
cocoa-palms  on  the  right  bank.  They  stand  on  piles  a  few 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  low,  damp  ground  ;  and  their 
owners  enter  them  by  means  of  ladders."  The  native 
gardens  were  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation ;  rice,  sweet- 
potatoes,  pumpkins,  tomatoes,  cabbages,  onions,  pease, 
cotton,  and  sugar-cane  being  freely  cultivated.  The 
natives  they  met  with  were  well  fed,  but  very  scantily 
Clothed.  They  stood  on  the  banks,  and  gazed  with  won- 
der at  the  "  Pearl "  and  the  "  Ma-Robert ;  "  one  of  them, 
an  old  man,  asking  if  the  former  was  made  out  of  one 
tree.  They  were  all  eager  to  trade,  coming  alongside  the 
steamers,  in  their  canoes,  with  fruit  and  food  and  honey 
and  beeswax,  and  shouting,  "  Malonda,  malonda!" 
[things  for  sale.] 

When  the  water  became  too  shallow  for  the  passage  of 
the  "Pearl,"  she  left  the  part}';  Mr.  Skead  and  a  Mr. 
Duncan,  who  had  accompanied  them  from  the  Cape, 
returning  with  her.  A  number  of  the  party  were  left  on 
an  island  they  named  Expedition  Island,  from  the  18th  of 
June  until  the  13th  of  August,  while  the  others  were  con- 


A  CRUEL  SLAVE-DEALER. 


159 


veying  the  goods  up  to  Shupanga  and  Senna.  This  was  a 
work  of  some  danger,  as  the  country  was  in  a  state  of  war 
A  half-caste  chief  called  Mariano,  who  ruled  over  the 
country  from  the  Shire  down  to  Mazaro  at  the  head  of 
the  delta,  had  waged  war  against  the  Portuguese  for 
some  time  previous  to  their  visit.  He  was  a  keen  slave- 
hunter,  and  kept  a  large  number  of  men  well  armed  with 
muskets.  So  long  as  he  confined  himself  to  slave-hunting 
forays  among  the  helpless  tribes,  and  carried  down  his 
natives  in  chains  to  Kilimane,  where  they  were  sold,  and 
shipped  as  "  free  emigrants  "  to  the  French  island  of  Bour- 
bon, the  Portuguese  authorities  did  not  interfere  with 
him,  although  his  slave-hunting  expeditions  were  con- 
ducted with  the  utmost  atrocit}r,  frequently  indulging  his 
thirst  for  blood  by  spearing  large  numbers  of  helpless 
natives  with  his  own  hand.  Getting  bolder,  he  began  to 
attack  the  natives  who  were  under  the  protection  of  the 
Portuguese  ;  and  then  war  was  declared  against  him.  He 
resisted  for  a  time  ;  but,  fearing  that  he  would  ultimately 
get  the  worst  of  it,  he  went  to  Kilimane  to  endeavor  to 
arrange  for  peace  with  the  governor  ;  but  Col.  Da  Silva 
refused  his  proffered  bribes,  and  sent  him  to  Mozambique 
for  trial.  When  Livingstone's  party  first  came  in  contact 
with  the  rebels  at  Mazaro,  they  looked  formidable  and 
threatening ;  but,  on  being  told  that  the  party  were  Eng- 
lish, they  fraternized  with  them,  and  warmly  approved  of 
the  objects  of  the  expedition. 

A  little  later,  a  battle  was  fought  between  the  contend- 
ing parties,  within  a  mile  and  a  half  of  Livingstone's 
party  ;  and  on  landing  to  pay  his  respects  to  several  of 
his  old  friends,  who  had  treated  him  kindly  on  the  occa- 
sion of  his  former  appearance  amongst  them,  he  found 
himself  among  the  mutilated  bodies  of  the  slain.  The 


160  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


governor  was  ill  of  fever,  and  Livingstone  was  requested 
to  convey  him  to  Shupanga ;  and,  just  as  he  had  con- 
sented, the  battle  was  renewed,  the  bullets  whistling 
about  his  ears.  Failing  to  get  any  assistance,  Living- 
stone half-supported  and  half-carried  the  sick  governor 
to  the  ship.  His  excellency,  who  had  taken  nothing  for 
the  fever  but  a  little  camphor,  and  being  a  disbeliever  in 
Livingstone's  mode  of  treatment,  was,  after  some  diiFi- 
culty,  cured  against  his  will.  A  little  after  this,  Bor.ga, 
Mariano's  brother,  made  peace  with  the  governor,  and 
the  war  came  to  an  end. 

For  miles  before  reaching  Mazaro,  the  scenery  is  unin- 
teresting, consisting  of  long  stretches  of  level,  grass}'' 
plains,  the  monotony  of  which  is  broken  here  and  there  by 
the  round  green  tops  of  stately  palm-trees.  Sand-martins 
flit  about  in  flocks,  darting  in  and  out  of  their  holes  in 
the  banks.  On  the  numerous  islands  which  dot  the  broad 
expanse  of  the  stream,  many  kinds  of  water-fowl,  such 
as  geese,  flamingoes,  herons,  spoonbills,  &c,  are  seen  in 
large  numbers.  Huge  crocodiles  lay  basking  on  the  low 
banks,  gliding  sluggishly  into  the  stream  as  they  caught 
sight  of  the  steamer.  The  hippopotamus  "  rising  from  the 
bottom,  where  he  has  been  enjoying  his  morning  bath  after 
the  labor  of  the  night  on  shore,  blows  a  puff  of  spray 
out  of  his  nostrils,  shakes  the  water  out  of  his  ears,  puts 
his  enormous  snout  up  straight,  and  yawns,  sounding  a 
loud  alarm  to  the  rest  of  the  herd,  with  notes  as  of 
a  monstrous  bassoon." 

The  Zulus,  or  Landeens,  are  the  lords  of  the  soil  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Zambesi,  and  take  tribute  from  the 
Portuguese  at  Senna  and  Shupanga.  Each  merchant 
pays  annually  two  hundred  pieces  of  cloth  of  sixteen 
^ards  each,  besides  beads  and  brass- wire  ;  and,  while 


FAILURE  OF  "THE  MA-ROBERT."  161 


they  groan  under  this  heavy  levy  of  blackmail,  they  are 
powerless,  as  a  refusal  to  pay  it  would  involve  them  in  a 
war  in  which  they  would  lose  all  they  possess.  In  the 
forests  near  Shupanga,  a  tree  called  by  the  natives  mo- 
konclu-Jcundu  abounds.  It  attains  to  a  great  size,  and, 
being  hard  and  cross-grained,  is  used  for  the  manufacture 
of  large  canoes.  At  the  time  of  Livingstone's  visit,  a  Por- 
tuguese merchant  at  Kilimane  paid  the  Zulus  three  hun- 
dred dollars  per  annum  for  permission  to  cut  it. 

Livingstone's  old  friends,  Col.  Nunes  and  Major 
Sicard,  received  the  traveller  and  his  party  with  much 
good-will,  causing  wood  to  be  cut  for  fuel  for  the  steamer. 
The  woods  used  for  this  purpose  were  lignum-vitae  and 
African  ebony.  The  engineer,  knowing  the  value  of  them 
at  home,  "  said  it  made  his  heart  sore  to  burn  woods  so 
valuable."  The  india-rubber  tree  and  calumba  root  were 
found  to  be  abundant  in  the  interior  ;  and,  along  the  banks 
of  the  river,  indigo  was  growing  in  a  wild  state.  The 
1  '  Ma-Robert "  turned  out  a  failure  ;  the  builder  having  de- 
ceived Livingstone  as  to  her  power,  &c.  It" took  hours  to 
get  up  steam  ;  and  she  went  so  slowly,  that  the  heavily- 
laden  native  canoes  passed  more  rapidly  up  the  river  than 
she  did.  One  can  hardly  think  with  temper  on  a  misad- 
venture like  this,  and  can  readily  sympathize  with  his 
feeling  of  annoyance  when  he  found,  that,  for  all  practical 
purposes,  she  was  worse  than  useless.  Near  the  mouth 
of  the  Shire,  Bonga,  with  some  of  his  principal,  men, 
visited  the  party ;  and,  in  addition  to  assuring  them  that 
none  of  his  people  would  molest  them,  presented  them 
with  some  rice,  two  sheep,  and  a  quantity  of  firewood. 
Within  six  miles  of  Senna,  the  party  had  to  leave  the 
steamer,  the  shoal  channel  not  being  deep  enough  for  her 
draught.    "  The  narrow,  winding  path,  along  which  they 

14* 


162  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


had  to  march  in  Indian  file,  lay  through  gardens  and 
patches  of  wood,  the  loftiest  trees  being  thorny  acacias. 
The  sky  was  cloudy,  the  air  cool  and  pleasant,  and  the 
little  birds,  in  the  gladness  of  their  hearts,  poured  forth 
sweet,  strange  songs,  which,  though  equal  to  those  of  the 
singing-birds  at  home  on  a  spring  morning,  yet  seemed, 
somehow,  as  if  in  a  foreign  tongue.  TVe  met  many  natives 
in  the  wood.  Most  of  the  men  were  armed  with  spears, 
bows  and  arrows,  and  old  Tower  muskets  :  the  women  had 
short-handled  iron  hoes,  and  were  going  to  work  in  the 
gardens.  They  stepped  aside  to  let  us  pass,  and  saluted  us 
politely,  the  men  bowing  and  scraping,  and  the  women, 
even  with  heavy  loads  on  their  heads,  courtesying :  a 
courtesy  from  bare  legs  is  startling." 

On  an  island  near  Senna,  they  visited  a  small  fugitive 
tribe  of  hippopotami-hunters,  who  had  been  driven- from 
their  own  island  in  front.  They  are  an  exclusive  people, 
and  never  intermarry  with  other  tribes.  These  hunters 
frequently  go  on  long  expeditions,  taking -their  wives  and 
children  with  them,  and  erect  temporary  huts  on  the  banks 
of  the  rivers,  where  they  dry  the  meat  they  have  killed. 
They  are  a  comely  race,  and  do  not  disfigure  themselves 
with  lip-ornaments,  as  many  of  the  neighboring  tribes  do. 
Livingstone  gives  the  following  description  of  the  weapon 
with  which  they  kill  the  hippopotamus:  ';It  is  a  short 
iron  harpoon  inserted  in  the  end  of  a  long  pole  ;  but,  being 
intended  to  unship,  it  is  made  fast  to  a  strong  cord  of 
milola  or  hibiscus  bark,  which  is  wound  closely  round  the 
entire  length  of  the  shaft,  and  secured  at  its  opposite  end. 
Two  men  in  a  swift  canoe  steal  quietly  down  on  the  sleep- 
ing animal ;  the  bowman  dashes  the  harpoon  into  the  un- 
conscious victim,  while  the  quick  steersman  sweeps  the 
light  craft  back  with  his  broad  paddle.    The  force  of  the 


MEETING  WITH  THE  MAKOLOLO  MEN.  163 


blow  separates  the  harpoon  from  its  corded  handle  ;  which, 
appearing  on  the  service,  sometimes  with  an  inflated  blad- 
der attached,  guides  the  hunters  to  where  the  wounded 
beast  hides  below  until  they  despatch  it." 

The  u  Ma-Robert"  anchored  in  the  stream  off  Tete,  on 
the  8th  of  September  ;  and  great  was  the  joy  of  the  Mako- 
lolo  men  when  they  recognized  Dr.  Livingstone.  Some 
were  about  to  embrace  him  ;  but  others  cried  out,  "  Don't 
touch  him !  you  will  spoil  his  new  clothes."  They 
listened  sadly  to  the  account  of  the  end  of  Sekwebu, 
remarking,  "Men  die  in  any  country."  They  had 
much  to  tell  of  their  own  doings  and  trials.  Thirty  of 
their  number  had  died  of  small-pox  ;  and  other  six,  becom- 
ing tired  of  wood-cutting,  went  away  to  dance  before  the 
neighboring  chiefs.  They  visited  Bonga,  the  son  of 
Nyaude  (not  the  brother  of  Mariano),  who  cruelly  put 
them  to  death.  "  We  do  not  grieve,"  they  said,  "  for  the 
thirty  victims  of  small-pox,  who  were  taken  away  by 
Morimo  [God]  ;  but  our  hearts  are  sore  for  the  six  3Touths 
who  were  murdered  by  Bonga."  If  any  order  had  been 
given  by  Don  Pedro  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Makololo 
men  during  Livingstone's  absence,  it  never  reached  Tete ; 
and  they  were  dependent  on  their  own  exertions,  and  the 
kindness  of  Major  Sicard,  who  treated  them  most  gener- 
ously, and  gave  them  land  and  tools  to  raise  some  food  for 
themselves. 

At  Tete,  the  party  took  up  their  abode  in  the  Residency 
House,  and  received  the  most  generous  hospitality  from 
Major  Sicard  and  all  the  Portuguese  residents.  A  singu- 
lar case  of  voluntary  slavery  came  under  Livingstone's 
notice  here.  Chibanti,  an  active  young  fellow,  who  had 
acted  as  pilot  to  the  expedition,  sold  himself  to  Major 
SicaW. ;  assigning,  as  a  reason,  that  he  had  neither  father 


164  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

nor  mother,  and  that  Major  Sicard  was  a  kind  master. 
He  sold  himself  for  three  and  thirty  yard-pieces  of  cloth. 
With  two  of  the  pieces  he  bought  a  man,  a  woman,  and  a 
child ;  afterwards  he  bought  more  slaves,  and  owned  a 
sufficient  number  to  man  one  of  the  large  canoes  with 
which  the  trade  of  the  river  is  carried  on.  Major  Sicard 
subsequent!}'  employed  him  in  carrying  ivory  and  other 
merchandise  to  Kilimane,  and  gave  cloth  to  his  men  for 
the  voyage.  The  Portuguese,  as  a  rule,  are  very  kind  to 
their  slaves  ;  but  the  half-castes  are  cruel  slaveholders. 
Livingstone  quotes  a  saying  of  a  humane  Portuguese, 
which  indicates  the  reputation  they  bear :  1  c  God  made 
white  men,  and  God  made  black  men  ;  but  the  Devil  made 
half-castes/' 

Xeat  Tete,  a  seam  of  excellent  coal,  of  twenty-five  feet 
in  thickness,  was  visited  and  examined.  Coal  and  iron 
are  common  in  the  lower  Zambesi ;  the  latter  being  of  ex- 
cellent quality,  and  quite  equal  to  the  best  Swedish.  The 
existence  of  these  minerals  must  play  an  important  part 
in  the  regeneration  of  the  people,  and  the  cultivation  of 
this  vast  and  important  district. 

The  party  visited  and  examined  the  Kebrabasa  Rapids, 
and  found  them  very  formidable  barriers  to  the  navigation 
of  the  river.  They  are  so  called  from  a  range  of  rocky 
mountains,  which  cross  the  Zambesi  at  that  spot.  The 
river,  during  the  dry  season,  is  confined  to  a  narrow  chan- 
nel, through  which  the  water  forces  itself,  boiling  and 
eddying  within  a  channel  of  not  more  than  sixty  yards  in 
width  ;  the  top  of  the  masts  of  the  "  Ma-Robert,"  although 
thirtj'  feet  high,  not  reaching  to  the  flood-mark  on  the 
rocky  sides.  The  whole  bed  and  banks  of  the  stream 
are  broken  by  huge  masses  of  rock  of  every  imaginable 
shape.    The  rapids  extend  for  upwards  of  eight  miles, 


DETERMINED  TO  ASCEND  THE  SHIRE.  165 


and  could  only  be  passed  by  a  steamer  during  the  floods. 
The  march  along  the  banks  of  the  river  among  the  rocks, 
which  were  so  hot,  from  the  heat  of  the  sun,  as  to  blister 
the  bare  feet  of  the  Makololo  men,  was  most  fatiguing. 
Several  miles  above  these  rapids,  is  the  cataract  of  Mo- 
rumbwa,  where  the  river  is  jammed  into  a  cavity  of  not 
more  than  fifty  yards  in  width,  and  the  fall  of  the  cataract 
is  twenty  feet  in  a  slope  of  thirty  yards.  During  floods  it 
is  navigable  ;  the  rapids  being  all  but  obliterated  through 
the  great  rise  in  the  river,  the  rocks  showing  a  flood-mark 
eighty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  stream. 

Finding  it  impossible  to  take  their  steamer  through  the 
Kebrabasa  Rapids,  the  party  forwarded  from  Tete,  to 
which  they  had  returned,  information  to  that  effect  to  the 
English  government ;  requesting  that  a  more  suitable  ves- 
sel for  the  ascent  of  the  river  should  be  sent  out  to  them. 
In  the  mean  time,  they  determined  on  ascending  the  Shire, 
which  falls  into  the  Zambesi  about  a  hundred  miles  from 
its  mouth.  The  Portuguese  could  give  no  information 
about  it ;  no  one  ever  having  gone  up  it  for  any  distance,  or 
found  out  from  whence  it  came.  Years  ago,  they  informed 
him  that  a  Portuguese  expedition  had  attempted  to  as- 
cend it ;  but  had  to  turn  back  on  account  of  the  impene- 
trable masses  of  duckweed  which  grew  in  its  bed,  and 
floated  in  shoals  on  its  surface.  The  natives  on  its  banks 
were  said  to  be  treacherous,  thievish,  and  bloodthirsty; 
and  nothing  but  disaster  was  predicted  as  the  end  of  such 
a  foolhardy  expedition. 


CHAPTER  X. 


ASCENDS    THE    SHIRE.   FRIENDLY    NATIVES.  DISCOVERS 

LAKE  SHIRWA.  CONTACT  WITH  SLAVE-HUNTERS. 

Dr.  Livingstone  and  his  party  had  come  all  the  way 
from  England  to  explore  the  district,  and  were  not  to  be 
lightly  turned  aside  from  their  object ;  so  early  in  Janu- 
ary, 1859,  they  boldly  entered  the  Shire.  They  found,  for 
the  first  twenty-five  miles,  that  a  considerable  quantity  of 
duckweed  was  floating  down  the  river,  but  not  in  suffi- 
cient quantity  to  interrupt  its  navigation,  even  in  canoes. 
As  they  approached  the  native  villages,  the  men  assem- 
bled on  the  banks,  armed  with  bows  and  arrows  ;  but  it 
was  not  until  they  reached  the  village  of  a  chief  called 
Tingane,  who  had  gained  considerable  notoriety  by  his 
successful  prevention  of  the  Portuguese  slave-traders  from 
passing  farther  to  the  north,  that  they  met  with  any  thing 
like  serious  opposition.  Here  five  hundred  armed  men 
were  collected,  who  commanded  them  to  stop.  Living- 
stone boldly  went  on  shore,  and,  at  an  interview  with  the 
chief  and  his  head  men,  explained  the  objects  of  the 
party,  and  their  friendly  disposition.  Tingane,  who  was 
an  elderly,  well-made  man,  gray-headed,  and  over  six  feet 
high,  withdrew  his  opposition  to  their  further  progress, 
and  called  all  his  people  together,  so  that  the  objects  of 
the  exploring-party  might  be  explained  to  them. 

Following  the  winding  course  of  the  river  for  about  two 
hundred  miles,  their  farther  progress  was  arrested  by  a 

166 


FRIENDLY  NATIVES. 


167 


series  of  cataracts,  to  which  the  party  gave  the  name  of 
"The  Murchison,"  in  honor  of  the  great  friend  of  the 
expedition,  Sir  Roderick  Murchison.  In  going  down 
stream,  the  progress  of  the  u  Ma-Robert "  was  very  rapid  ; 
the  hippopotami  keeping  carefully  out  of  the  way,  while 
the  crocodiles  would  make  a  rush  at  the  vessel  as  if  to 
attack  it,  coming  within  a  few  feet  of  her,  when  they  sank 
like  a  stone,  to  re-appear,  and  watch  the  progress  of  the 
unknown  invader  of  their  haunts,  when  she  had  passed. 

Although  narrower  than  the  Zambesi,  the  Shire  is  much 
deeper,  and  more  easily  navigated.  The  lower  valley  of 
the  Shire  is  about  twenty  miles  wide,  and  very  fertile. 
The  hills  which  enclose  it  on  either  side  are  covered  with 
wood,  in  many  cases,  to  their  summits,  some  of  which  are 
at  an  altitude  of  four  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea.  They  visited  one  of  the  loftiest  of  the  hills,  called 
by  the  natives  Morambala.  On  the  wooded  sides  of  this 
mountain,  Dr.  Kirk  found  thirty  species  of  ferns.  In  the 
forests  near  its  base,  monkeys,  antelopes,  rhinoceroses, 
and  several  varieties  of  the  larger  birds,  were  abundant. 
"A  hot  fountain  boils  up  on  the  plain,  near  the  north 
end.  It  bubbles  out  of  the  earth,  clear  as  crystal,  at  two 
points,  or  eyes,  a  few  yards  apart  from  each  other,  and 
sends  off  a  fine  flowing  stream  of  hot  water.  The  tem- 
perature was  found  to  be  174°  Fahr.  ;  and  it  boiled  an  egg 
in  about  the  usual  time."  Two  pythons  coiled  together 
among  the  branches  of  a  tree  were  shot.  The  largest  was 
ten  feet  long.  Their  flesh  is  greatly  relished  by  the  na- 
tives. The  people  who  dwelt  on  the  mountain  slopes, 
here  and  elsewhere  on  the  lower  Shire,  were  found  to  be  a 
hardy  and  kindly  race.  They  cultivate  maize,  pumpkins, 
and  tobacco,  in  their  gardens  on  the  plains,  and  catch  fish 
in  the  river,  which  they  dry  for  future  sale  or  consump- 


168  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


tion.  On  the  occasion  of  a  future  ascent  of  the  river, 
the  party  found  that  many  of  these  harcly  mountaineers 
had  been  swept  away  in  a  slave-raid  by  Mariano. 

In  the  middle  of  March,  they  started  for  a  second  trip 
up  the  Shire,  when  they  found  the  natives  altogether 
friendly,  and  anxious  to  sell  them  rice,  fowls,  and  corn. 
Within  ten  miles  of  the  Murchison  Cataracts,  they  en- 
tered into  amicable  relations  with  a  chief  named  Chibisa, 
whose  career  had  been  of  a  very  warlike  character  ;  which 
he  excused  and  explained  by  stating  that  the  parties  with 
whom  he  had  fought  had  all  been  in  the  wrong,  while  he 
was  invariably  in  the  right.  He  was  a  true  believer  in 
the  divine  right  of  kings.  "  He  was  an  ordinary  man, 
he  said,  when  his  father  died,  and  left  him  the  chieftain- 
ship ;  but,  directly  he  succeeded  to  the  high  office,  he  was 
conscious  of  power  passing  into  his  head,  and  down  his 
back.  He  felt  it  enter,  and  knew  that  he  was  a  chief, 
clothed  with  authority,  and  possessed  of  wisdom ;  and 
people  then  began  to  fear  and  reverence  him." 

Fortunately  his  people  were  of  the  same  mind  ;  for  they 
bathed  in  the  river  without  dread  of  the  crocodiles,  after  he 
had  placed  a  medicine  in  it  to  prevent  their  biting  them. 

Drs.  Livingstone  and  Kirk,  and  several  of  the  Makololo 
men,  left  the  steamer,  and  the  other  members  of  the  party, 
at  Chibisa's  village,  and  proceeded  overland  to  Lake 
Shirwa  ;  the  inhabitants  of  the  district  through  which  they 
passed  presenting  a  hostile  appearance.  Through  a  mis- 
understanding, their  guide  took  them  first  to  an  extensive 
marsh,  which  they  christened  Elephant  Marsh,  from  the 
large  number  of  those  animals  they  saw  there.  After- 
wards they  pushed  on  without  guides,  save  when  some 
idiot  from  a  native  village  joined  them,  and  accompanied 
them  a  considerable  way  on  their  march,  when  no  sane 


LAKE  SHIRWA  DISCOVERED, 


169 


member  of  the  tribe  would  consent  to  guide  them  for  love 
or  money.  The  people  who  occupy  the  district  beyond 
the  Shire  were  called  Manganja,  and  were  distinguished 
for  their  bold  and  independent  bearing.  Drs.  Livingstone 
and  Kirk,  while  keeping  themselves  prepared  for  any 
attack,  were  careful  to  give  no  cause  of  offence,  and  so 
managed  to  avoid  getting  into  any  serious  difficulty  with 
this  warlike  people,  to  the  disgust  of  the  Makololo  men, 
who  were  anxious  to  give  them  a  taste  of  their  quality. 

On  the  18th  of  April,  they  discovered  Lake  Shirwa. 
The  water  was  brackish  ;  and  in  it  were  enormous  numbers 
of  leeches,  the  attacks  of  which  prevented  them  obtaining 
the  latitude  by  the  natural  horizon,  which  they  hoped  to 
do  on  a  sandbank  at  some  distance  from  the  shore. 
Several  varieties  of  fish,  hippopotami,  and  crocodiles, 
were  abundant  in  the  waters  of  the  lake.  The  lake  was 
found  to  be  one  thousand  eight  hundred  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea.  It  was  reported  to  be  from  sixty  to 
eighty  miles  long,  and  of  an  average  breadth  of  twenty 
miles.  Lofty  mountains,  whose  height  was  supposed  to 
be  about  eight  thousand  feet,  stand  near  its  eastern  shore  ; 
and  on  the  west  is  a  long  ridge,  6 ailed  Mount  Zomba, 
with  a  height  of  about  seven  thousand  feet,  and  a  length 
of  about  twenty  miles.  In  returning  to  the  steamer,  they 
changed  their  route,  and  passed  through  a  country  peo- 
pled by  friends  of  Chibisa,  who  did  not  interfere  with 
their  progress.  They  found  their  quartermaster,  John 
Walker,  ill  of  fever ;  and,  having  cured  him,  they  sailed 
down  into  the  Zambesi,  reaching  Tete  on  the  23d  of 
June. 

As  their  provisions  wrere  almost  exhausted,  the  chief 
members  of  the  party  proceeded  down  the  river  to  meet 
some  of  her  Majesty's  cruisers  of  the  Kongone ;  and  here 
16 


170  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D 

they  were  compelled  to  beach  the  "Ma-Robert"  for  repairs. 
Besides  being  a  bad  sailer,  she  leaked  so  that  the  cabin 
was  constantly  flooded,  the  water  coming  not  only  from 
below,  but  through  the  deck  whenever  it  rained.  The 
damp  caused  by  this  state  of  affairs  was  very  prejudicial 
to  their  health,  and  also  caused  the  destruction  of  many 
botanical  specimens,  occasioning  much  worry,  and  loss  of 
time,  in  replacing  them  with  others.  After  receiving  a 
supply  of  provisions  from  her  Majesty's  brig  "  Persian," 
the  party  returned  to  Tete,  and  started  on  their  third 
ascent  of  the  Shire.  On  this  occasion  they  examined  a 
lagoon,  called  "the  Lake  of  Mud"  in  the  language  of 
the  natives,  in  which  grows  a  lotus-root  called  nyika, 
which  the  natives  collect :  when  boiled  or  roasted,  it 
resembles  our  chestnuts  ;  and,  as  it  is  common  throughout 
South  Africa,  it  is  extensively  used  as  food.  These 
lagoons  and  marshes,  which  are  common  in  the  course  of 
the  great  rivers  of  South  Africa,  mark  the  spot  where 
extensive  lakes  existed  when  the  waters  passed  off  to 
the  sea  at  a  higher  level  than  they  do  at  the  present  day. 

As  the  miserable  little  steamer  could  not  carry  all  the 
men  they  required  in  this  more  extended  expedition,  they 
were  compelled  to  place  some  of  them  in  boats,  which 
were  towed  astern.  Unfortunately,  one  of  these  capsized, 
and  one  of  the  Makololo  men  was  drowned.  At  Mboma, 
where  the  people  were  eager  to  sell  any  quantity  of  food, 
the  party  were  entertained  by  a  native  musician,  who 
drew  excruciating  notes  from  a  kind  of  one-stringed 
violin.  As  he  threatened  to  serenade  them  all  night,  he 
was  asked  if  he  would  not  perish  from  cold.  "  Oh,  no  !  " 
he  replied  ;  "  I  shall  spend  the  night  with  my  white  com- 
rades in  the  big  canoe.  I  have  often  heard  of  the  white 
men,  but  have  never  seen  them  till  now  ;  and  I  must  sing 


WATER-FOWL  ON  THE  SHIRE. 


171 


and  play  well  to  them."  A  small  piece  of  cloth  bought 
him  off,  and  he  departed  well  content. 

On  the  banks  were  many  hippopotami- traps,  which 
u  consist  of  a  beam  five  or  six  feet  long,  armed  with  a 
spear-head,  or  hard-wood  spike,  covered  with  poison,  and 
suspended  by  a  forked  pole  to  a  cord ;  which,  coming 
down  to  the  path,  is  held  by  a  catch,  to  be  set  free  when 
the  animal  treads  on  it.  .  .  .  One  got  frightened  by  the 
ship,  as  she  wa3  steaming  close  to  the  bank.  In  its  eager 
hurry  to  escape,  it  rushed  on  shore,  and  ran  directly 
under  a  trap,  when  down  came  the  heavy  beam  on  its 
back,  driving  the  poisoned  spear-head  a  foot  deep  into  its 
flesh.  In  its  agony,  it  plunged  back  into  the  river,  to  die 
in  a  few  hours,  and  afterwards  furnished  a  feast  for  the 
natives.  The  poison  on  the  spear-head  does  not  affect 
the  meat,  except  the  part  around  the  wound,  which  is  cut 
out,  and  thrown  away." 

In  the  Shire  marshes,  in  addition  to  abundance  of  the 
large  four-footed  game,  water-fowl  of  many  kinds  were 
seen  in  prodigious  numbers.  "  An  hour  at  the  mast- 
head unfolds  novel  views  of  life  in  an  African  marsh. 
Near  the  edge,  and  on  the  branches  of  some  favorite 
tree,  rest  scores  of  plotuses  and  cormorants,  which 
stretch  their  snake-like  necks,  and  in  mute  amazement 
turn  one  e}Te  and  then  another  towards  the  approaching 
monster.  The  pretty  ardetta,  of  a  light  yellow  color 
when  at  rest,  but  seeiningty  of  a  pure  white  when  flying, 
takes  wing,  and  sweeps  across  the  green  grass  in  large 
numbers  ;  often  showing  us  where  buffaloes  are,  by  perch- 
ing on  their  backs.  Flocks  of  ducks,  of  which  the  kind 
called  soriri  is  most  abundant,  being  night-feeders,  medi- 
tate quietly  by  the  small  lagoons,  until  startled  by  the 
noise  of  thet  steam-machinery.    Pelicans  glide  over  the 


172 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


water  catching  fish,  while  the  scopus,  and  large  herons, 
peer  intently  into  the  pools.  The  large  black-and-white 
spar-winged  goose  springs  up,  and  circles  round  to  find 
out  what  the  disturbance  is,  and  then  settles  down  again 
with  a  splash.  Hundreds  of  linongolos  rise  from  the 
clumps  of  reeds,  or  low  trees,  in  which  the}'  build  in 
colonies,  and  are  speedily  in  mid-air.  Charming  little 
red-and-yellow  weavers  remind  one  of  butterflies,  as  they 
fly  in  and  out  of  the  tall  grass,  or  hang  to  the  mouths  of 
their  pendant  nests,  chattering  briskly  to  their  mates 
within.  .  .  .  Kites  and  vultures  are  busy  overhead,  beating 
the  ground  for  their  repast  of  carrion ;  and  the  solemn- 
looking,  stately-stepping  marabout,  with  a  taste  for  dead 
fish  or  men,  stalks  slowly  along  the  almost  stagnant 
channels.  .  .  .  Towards  evening,  hundreds  of  pretty  little- 
hawks  are  seen  flying  in  a  southerly  direction,  and  feed- 
ing on  dragon-flies  and  locusts.  .  .  .  Flocks  of  seissor- 
bills  are  then  also  on  the  wing,  and  in  search  of  food, 
ploughing  the  water  with  their  lower  mandibles,  which 
are  nearly  half  an  inch  longer  than  the  upper  ones." 

Be}'ond  the  marshes,  in  many  places  the  soil  is  saline  ; 
and  the  natives  procure  large  quantities  of  salt  by  mix- 
ing the  earth  w^ith  water  in  a  pot  with  a  small  hole  in  it, 
evaporating  the  liquid,  as  it  runs  through,  in  the  sun. 
Livingstone  noticed  that  on  these  saline  soils  the  cotton 
grown  is  of  a  larger  and  finer  staple  than  elsewhere. 
When  the  party  arrived  at  Chibisa's  village,  they  found 
several  of  the  men  busy  cleaning,  sorting,  and  weaving 
cotton.  This  was  a  sight  which  greeted  them  in  most  of 
the  villages  on  the  Shire ;  and,  as  cotton  can  be  grown 
there  to  any  extent,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  once 
slavery  were  put  down,  and  legitimate  commerce  intro- 
duced, the  course  of  this  fine  river  would  became  a  thriv 


THE  SHIRE  COUNTRY. 


173 


ing  and  populous  district ;  as  food  can  be  grown  to  any 
extent,  and  there  is  plenty  of  grass  for  innumerable  herds 
of  cattle. 

On  the  28th  of  August,  Livingstone  and  his  three  white 
companions,  accompanied  by  two  guides  and  thirty-sis: 
Makololo  men,  left  the  vessel  in  charge  of  the  remainder 
of  the  party,  and  started  in  search  of  Lake  Nyassa.  A 
short  march  up  a  beautiful  little  valley,  through  which 
flowed  a  small  stream,  led  them  to  the  foot  of  the  Man- 
g&nja  hills,  over  which  their  course  lay.  Looking  back 
from  a  height  of  a  thousand  feet,  the  beautiful  country  for 
many  miles,  with  the  Shire  flowing  through  it,  excited  their 
admiration ;  while  as  they  approached  the  summit  of  the 
range,  innumerable  vallej^s  opened  out  to  their  admiring 
gaze,  majestic  mountains  rearing  their  heads  in  all  direc- 
tions. This  part  of  the  journey  was  exceedingly  toil- 
some ;  but  the  uniform  kindness  of  the  inhabitants,  and 
the  beauty  of  the  scenery,  maclQ  up  for  their  exertions. 
Among  the  hill- tribes,  women  are  treated  as  if  they  were 
inferior  animals  ;  but,  in  the  upper  valley  of  the  Shire, 
they  found  that  women  were  held  in  great  respect,  the 
husband  seldom  doing  any  thing  unless  the  wife  approves. 
A  portion  of  the  valley  is  ruled  over  by  a  female  chief 
named  Nyango.  On  reaching  the  village,  the  party  went 
to  the  boalo,  or  spreading-place,  under  the  shade  of  lofty 
trees,  where  mats  of  split  reeds  or  bamboo  were  usually 
placed  for  the  white  members  of  the  party  to  sit  upon. 
Here  the  grand  palaver  was  held,  at  which  their  objects 
and  intentions  in  visiting  the  country  were  discussed  with 
due  gravity  and  form. 

The  inhabitants  of  this  district  are  very  industrious  :  in 
addition  to  cultivating  the  soil  extensively,  working  in 
iron,  cotton,  and  basket-making.    Each  village  has  its 

15* 


174  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


smel ting-house,  charcoal-burners,  and  blacksmiths.  Thfi 
axes,  spears,  needles,  arrowheads,  bracelets,  and  anklets 
are  excellent,  and  are  sold  exceedingly  cheap.  Crockery 
and  pottery  of  various  kinds  are  also  largely  manufac- 
tured ;  and  fishing-nets  are  made  from  the  fibres  of  the 
bucize,  which  grows  on  the  hills. 

The  use  of  ornaments  on  the  legs  and  arms  is  common. 
Bat  the  most  extraordinary  custom  is  that  of  the  pelele, 
worn  b}^  women.  A  small  hole  is  made  in  the  upper  lip, 
and  gradually  widened,  the  process  of  widening  extend- 
ing over  several  years,  until  an  aperture  of  from  one  to 
two  inches  is  rendered  permanent.  Into  this  a  tin  or 
ivory  ring  is  forced  until  the  lip  protrudes  a  couple  of 
inches  beyond  the  nose.  "  When  an  old  wearer  of  a 
hollow  ring  smiles,  by  the  action  of  the  muscle  of  the 
cheeks,  the  ring  and  lip  outside  it  are  dragged  back,  and 
thrown  over  the  eyebrows.  The  nose  is  seen  through 
the  middle  of  the  ring  ;  and  the  exposed  teeth  show  how 
carefully  they  have  been  chipped  to  look  like  those  of  the 
crocodile."  No  reason  was  given  for  this  monstrosity, 
excepting  that  it  was  the  fashion.  The  prevalence  of 
such  a  hideous  custom  is  the  more  to  be  wondered  at,  as 
the  Manganja  are  a  comely  people,  intelligent-looking, 
with  well- shaped  heads  and  agreeable  features. 

They  brew  large  quantities  of  a  kind  of  beer.  "The 
grain  is  made  to  vegetate,  dried  in  the  sun,  pounded  into 
meal,  and  gently  boiled.  When  only  a  day  or  two  old, 
the  beer  is  sweet,  with  a  slight  degree  of  acidity,  which 
renders  it  a  most  grateful  beverage  in  a  hot  climate,  or 
when  fever  begets  a  sore  craving  for  acid  drinks."  It  is 
pinkish  in  color,  and  of  the  consistency  of  thin  gruel.  It 
takes  a  large  quantity  of  it  to  produce  intoxication ;  but 
as  they  must  drink  it  rapidly,  as  it  will  not  keep  for  any 


ARRIVAL  AT  LAKE  NYASSA. 


175 


time,  intoxication  among  the  Manganjas  is  very  common, 
—  whole  villages  being  often  found  on  the  spree.  It 
apparently  has  no  baneful  effects  upon  them,  nor  does  it 
shorten  life,  as  the  party  never  saw  so  many  aged  people 
as  they  did  while  amongst  this  people.  One  aged  chief, 
Muata  Manga,  appeared  to  be  about  ninety  years  of 
age.  "  His  venerable  appearance  struck  the  Makololo. 
4  He  is  an  old  man,'  they  said,  —  '  a  very  old  man.  His 
skin  hangs  in  wrinkles,  just  like  that  on  elephants'  hips.'  " 

They  very  rarely  wash,  and  are  consequently  very  dirty. 
An  old  man  told  them  that  he  had  once  washed,  but  it 
was  so  long  since  that  he  did  not  remember  how  he  felt ; 
and  the  women  asked  the  Makololo,  "  Why  do  you  wash? 
Our  men  never  do."  As  might  have  been  expected,  skin- 
diseases  were  common.  They  believe  in  a  divine  Being 
whom  they  call  Morungo,  and  in  a  future  state.  But 
where,  or  in  what  condition,  they  exist,  they  do  not  know  ; 
as  although  the  dead,  they  say,  sometimes  return  to  the 
living,  and  appear  to  them  in  their  dreams,  they  never 
tell  them  how  they  fare,  or  whither  they  have  gone. 

Lake  Nyassa  was  discovered  a  little  before  noon  on  the 
16th  of  September,  1859,  with  the  River  Shire  running 
out  at  its  southern  end  in  14°  25'  S.  latitude.  The  chief 
of  the  village  near  the  outlet  of  the  Shire,  called  Mosau- 
ka,  invited  the  party  to  visit  his  village,  and  entertained 
them  under  a  magnificent  banyan-tree,  giving  them  a 
goat,  and  a  basket  of  meal.  A  party  of  Arab  slave- 
hunters  were  encamped  close  by.  They  were  armed  with 
long  muskets,  and  were  a  villanous-looking  set  of  fellows. 
Mistaking  the  country  of  the  white  men  the}'  had  met  so 
unexpectedly,  they  offered  them  young  children  for  sale  ; 
but,  on  hearing  that  they  were  English,  they  showed  signs; 
of  fear,  and  decamped  during  the  nigbt.  Curiously 


176  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


enough,  one  of  the  slaves  they  had  with  them  recognized 
the  party.  She  had  been  caught  by  her  Majesty's  ship 
"Lynx"  at  Kongone  along  with  several  others.  She 
said  that  the  Arabs  had  fled  for  fear  of  an  uncanny 
sort  of  Basunga  (white  men  or  Portuguese) . 

Several  great  slave-paths  from  the  interior  cross  the 
upper  valley  of  the  Shire.  The  chiefs  are  ashamed  of 
the  traffic,  and  excuse  themselves  by  saying  that  they 
"  do  not  sell  many,  and  only  those  that  have  committed 
crimes."  The  great  inducement  to  sell  each  other  is,  that 
they  have  no  ivory,  and  nothing  else  with  which  to  buy 
foreign  goods ;  a  state  of  matters  which  the  Arab 
traders  know  how  to  take  advantage  of,  as  they  want 
nothing  but  slaves,  and  the  food  they  may  require  when 
on  the  hunt.  Nothing  but  the  establishment  of  legiti- 
mate commerce  can  be  expected  to  put  a  stop  to  the 
slave-traffic  in  such  circumstances  as  these.  The  sight 
of  slaves  being  led  in  forked  sticks  excited  the  indigna- 
tion of  the  Makololo  ;  and  they  could  not  understand  why 
Livingstone  did  not  allow  them  to  set  them  free,  by  force 
if  necessary.  They  said,  "  Ay,  you  call  us  bad  ;  but  are 
we  yellow-hearted  like  these  fellows  ?  Why  don't  you  let 
us  choke  them?"  These  slave-sticks  were  about  three 
feet  in  length,  with  a  fork  at  one  end  into  which  the  neck 
is  thrust.  The  stick  is  retained  in  its  position  by  putting 
a  piece  of  stout  wire  through  the  ends  of  the  fork,  which 
is  turned  down  at  either  end.  The  price  of  slaves  neai 
Lake  Nyassa  was  four  yards  of  cotton  cloth  for  a  man, 
three  for  a  woman,  and  two  for  a  boy  or  girl.  When 
flesh  and  blood  cost  so  little  as  an  absolute  purchase,  free 
labor  could  be  bought  at  a  price  which  would  make  the 
rearing  of  cotton,  corn,  &c,  a  profitable  speculation  if 
a  proper  means  of  communication  with  the  coast  were 


RETURN  TO  THE  STEAMBOAT. 


177 


opened  up.  Water-carriage  by  the  Shire  and  the  Zam- 
besi exists  all  the  way,  save  for  a  distance  of  forty  miles 
at  the  Murchison  Cataracts ;  and,  from  the  character  of 
the  country,  the  making  of  a  road  for  this  distance  would 
be  no  serious  difficulty.  At  the  time  of  Livingstone's 
visit,  cotton,  of  which  the  Manganja  grew  considerable 
quantities  for  their  own  use,  was  worth  less  than  a  penny 
per  pound. 

The  tribes  on  the  Upper  Shire  were  suspicions,  and  less 
hospitable  than  those  in  the  lower  valley.  Many  slave- 
trading  parties  had  visited  them,  with  as  much  preten- 
sions to  friendliness  as  Dr.  Livingstone  and  his  party, 
only  to  abuse  their  confidence.  As  every  care  was  taken 
to  do  nothing  that  could  give  offence,  they  were  slowly 
but  surely  won  over  to  a  belief  in  the  friendly  intentions 
of  the  red  men,  as  they  termed  Livingstone  and  his  white 
friends.  Lake  Nyassa,  as  he  proved  on  his  second  visit, 
was  about  two  hundred  miles  long,  with'  a  breadth  of 
from  eighteen  to  fifty  or  sixty  miles  at  its  widest  parts. 
It  is  narrowest  towards  its  southern  end,  and  has  some- 
what the  boot-shape  of  the  Italian  peninsula. 

The  party  returned  to  the  steamboat  after  a  la^d  jour- 
ney of  forty  days,  very  much  exhausted  from  eating  the 
cassava-root,  which  in  its  raw  state  is  poisonous,  but 
when  boiled  twice,  and  the  water  strained  off,  has  no  evil 
effect.  The  cook,  not  knowing  this,  had  served  it  up,  after 
boiling  it  until  the  water  was  absorbed  :  and  it  was  only 
after  it  had  been  tried  with  various  mixtures,  and  the 
whole  party  had  suffered  for  clays  from  its  effects,  that 
the  cause  was  discovered. 

At  Elephant  Marsh,  on  their  return,  they  saw  nine  herds 
of  elephants.  They  frequently  formed  a  line  two  miles 
long. 


178  LIFE  OF  DA  T  ID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


From  Chibisa,  Dr.  Kirk  and  Mr.  Rae,  with  guides,  went 
overland  to  Tete,  and  suffered  greatly  from  the  heat  on 
the  journey,  arriving  there  very  much  exhausted,  after  the 
steamer,  with  the  members  of  the  expedition,  had  arrived, 
and  gone  down  to  Kongone,  as  it  was  necessary  to  beach 
the  vessel  for  repairs,  as  she  leaked  worse  than  ever. 
Off  Senna,  Senhor  Ferrao  sent  them  a  bullock,  which  was 
a  very  acceptable  gift.  At  Kongone  they  were  supplied 
with  stores  from  her  Majesty's  ship  "Lynx;"  but,  un- 
fortunately, a  boat  was  swamped  in  crossing  the  bar,  and 
the  mail-bags,  with  despatches  from  government  and 
letters  from  home,  were  lost.  It  is  easy  to  sympathize 
with  Livingstone's  distress  at  this  most  unfortunate  acci- 
dent. "  The  loss  of  the  mail-bags,"  he  says,  "  was  felt 
severely,  as  we  were  on  the  point  of  starting  on  an  ex- 
pedition into  the  interior,  which  might  require  eight  or 
nine  months  ;  and  twenty  months  is  a  weary  time  to  be 
without  news  of  friends  and  family."  After  returning  to 
Tete,  where  they  staid  some  time  enjojing  the  hospi- 
tality of  the  Portuguese  merchants,  Livingstone  and  his 
companions,  before  proceeding  inland  to  visit  the  Mako- 
lolo  country,  sailed  down  the  Zambesi  with  Mr.  Rae, 
who  was  about  to  return  to  England  to  superintend  the 
construction  of  a  successor  to  the  "  Ma-Robert,"  which 
was  now  more  than  useless  for  the  purposes  for  which  it 
was  intended.  At  Shupanga,  Sininyane,  one  of  the 
Makololo,  exchanged  names  with  a  Zulu,  and  ever  after- 
wards only  answered  to  the  name  of  Moshoshoma.  This 
custom  is  common  among  the  tribes  on  the  Zambesi.  After 
exchanging  names,  the  parties  owe  to  each  other  special 
duties  and  services  ever  afterwards.  While  at  Kebra- 
basa,  ChaiJ.es  Livingstone  was  made  a  comrade  for  life, 
names  not  being  exchanged,  of  a  hungry  native  traveller 


TROUBLESOME  REPTILES. 


179 


to  whom  he  gave  some  food,  and  a  small  piece  of  cloth. 
Eighteen  months  afterwards,  the  man  having  prospered 
in  the  interval,  he  came  into  the  camp  of  the  party  while 
on  their  journey  into  the  interior,  bringing  a  liberal 
present  of  rice,  meal,  beer,  and  a  fowl,  saying  that  44  he 
did  not  like  them  to  sleep  hungry  or  thirsty."  Some  of 
the  Makololo  took  the  names  of  friendly  chiefs,  and 
others  took  the  names  of  famous  places  they  had  visited  ; 
the  assumed  names  being  retained  after  their  return  to 
their  own  county. 

While  anchored  in  the  river,  the  party  suffered  from  the 
visits  of  certain  animals  and  insects.  Mosquitoes,  of 
course,  were  plentiful  at  certain  seasons  in  the  low-lying 
districts  ;  but  other  tormentors  were  of  a  novel  descrip- 
tion. Livingstone  gives  a  graphic  account  of  some  of 
them,  from  which  we  quote  :  44  The  rats,  or,  rather,  large 
mice  of  this  region,  are  quite  facetious  ;  and,  having  a 
great  deal  of  fun  in  them,  often  laugh  heartily.  .  .  .  No 
sooner  were  we  all  asleep,  than  they  made  a  sudden  dash 
over  the  lockers,  and  across  our  faces,  for  the  cabin  door, 
where  all  broke  out  into  a  loud  4  He,  he,  he,  he,  he,  he  ! ' 
showing  how  keenly  they  enjoyed  the  joke.  They  next 
went  forward  with  as  much  delight,  and  scampered  over 
the  men.  Every  evening  they  went  fore  and  aft,  rousing 
witti  impartial  feet  every  sleeper,  and  laughing  to  scorn 
the  aimless  blows,  growls,  and  deadly  rushes  of  outraged 
humanity.  .  .  .  Scorpions,  centipedes,  and  poisonous 
spiders  were  not  unfrequently  brought  into  the  ship  with 
the  wind,  and  occasionally  found  their  way  into  our  beds  ; 
.out  in  every  instance  we  were  fortunate  enough  to  dis- 
cover and  destroy  them,  before  they  did  any  harm.  .  .  . 
Snakes  sometimes  came  in  with  the  wood,  but  oftener 
floated  down  the  river  to  us,  climbing  on  board  with  ease 


180  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.Z . 


by  the  chain-cable  ;  and  some  poisonous  ones  were  caught 
in  the  cabin.  A  green  snake  lived  with  us  several  weeks, 
concealing  himself  behind  the  casing  of  the  deck  in  the 
daytime.  To  be  aroused  in  the  dark  by  five  feet  of  cold 
green  snake  gliding  over  one's  face,  is  rather  unpleasant, 
however  rapid  the  movement  may  be.  Myriads  of  two 
varieties  of  cockroaches  infested  the  vessel :  they  not  only 
ate  round  the  roots  of  our  nails,  but  even  devoured  and 
defiled  our  food,  flannels,  and  boots.  Vain  were  all  our 
efforts  to  extirpate  these  destructive  pests.  fi  If  you  kill 
one,'  say  the  sailors,  1  a  hundred  come  down  to  his  fu- 
neral.' " 

At  Senna  and  Tete  he  noticed  a  singular  service  in 
which  domesticated  monkeys  were  engaged.  He  had 
been*  speaking  of  the  opportunities  the  merchants  at  these 
places  allow  to  slip  of  creating  a  thriving  legitimate  com- 
merce. He  says,  "  Our  friends  at  Tete,  though  heedless 
of  the  obvious  advantages  which  other  nations  would 
eagerly  seize,  have  beaten  the  entire  world  in  one  branch 
of  industry.  It  is  a  sort  of  anomaly  that  the  animal  most 
nearly  allied  to  man  in  structure  and  function  should  be 
the  most  alien  to  him  in  respect  to  labor,  or  trusty  friend- 
ship. But  here  the  genius  of  the  monkey  is  turned  to  good 
account.  He  is  made  to  work  in  the  chase  of  certain 
4  wingless  insects  better  known  than  respected.'  Having 
been  invited  to  witness  this  branch  of  Tete  industry,  we 
can  testify  that  the  monkey  took  it  kindly,  and  it  seemed 
profitable  to  both  parties." 


CHAPTER  XI. 


START  FOR  LINYANTI. — CUTTING  UP  AN  ELEPHANT. — THB 
u  GO-NAKED"  TRIBE.  —  THE  VICTORIA.  FALLS.  —  FIND 
SEKELETU  ILL. 

As  Livingstone  felt  bound  in  honor  to  revisit  Sekeletu, 
and  take  back  the  men  who  had  accompanied  him  from 
that  chief  in  his  wanderings,  together  with  the  merchan- 
dise he  had  purchased  for  his  use  with  the  tusks  intrusted 
to  him,  the  party  started  from  Tete  for  Linyanti,  on  the 
15th  of  May  ;  leaving  ten  English  sailors  in  charge  of  the 
ship  until  their  return.  As  many  of  the  men  had  taken 
up  with  slave-women,  they  did  not  leave  with  much  good 
will ;  and,  before  the  party  had  reached  Kebrabasa  Cata- 
racts, thirty  of  them  had  deserted.  Before  starting,  Liv- 
ingstone had  paid  them  in  cloth,  &c,  for  their  services  in 
the  expedition,  being  anxious  that  they  should  make  as 
good  an  appearance  as  possible  when  they  reached  Lin- 
yanti. Many  of  them  had  earned  a  good  deal  during 
their  stay  at  Tete,  while  Dr.  Livingstone  was  absent  in 
England ;  but,  as  they  unfortunately  picked  up  a  good 
many  of  the  evil  habits  of  the  natives  round  Tete,  they 
had  squandered  all  they  possessed.  It  is  disgraceful  to 
think  that  these  unsophisticated  sons  of  nature  should 
have  come  so  far  to  see  and  meet  civilized  people  with 
such  results.  Not  only  were  the  .  slave  and  half-caste 
population  drunken  and  immoral,  but  the  Portuguese 
merchants,  with  few  exceptions,  were  no  better. 

16  181 


182  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


A  merchant  at  Tete  sent  three  of  his  men  with  the 
party  to  convey  a  present  for  Sekeletu ;  two  other  mer- 
chants gave  the  loan  of  a  couple  of  donkeys  ;  and  Major 
Sicard  sent  them  men  to  assist  them  on  their  return, 
when,  of  course,  their  attendants  would  be  reduced, 
should  the  Makololo  men  elect  to  remain,  and  no  one 
volunteer  to  accompany  them  on  their  return  down  the 
river.  In  order  to  escape  the  exactions  of  the  Banyai 
tribes,  the  party  proceeded  up  the  left  bank  of  the  river. 
At  several  of  the  villages,  on  their  way  up  the  Zambesi 
valle}r,  they  saw  and  conversed  with  pondoros,  as  men  are 
called  who  pretend  to  be  able  to  change  themselves  into  a 
lion,  or  other  animal.  Strangely  enough,  this  power  ap- 
peared to  be  believed  in  by  the  people  ;  even  the  wife  of 
the  pondoro,  during  the  period  when  he  retired  into  the 
forests  to  change  his  shape,  leaving  food  for  him  in  a  hut 
in  the  forest  prepared  for  him  ;  the  change  to  the  brute 
form  apparently  not  destroying  or  altering  the  human  ap- 
petite. These  excursions  usually  last  until  the  pondoro 
has  discovered  some  animal  just  slain  by  a  lion,  when  he 
returns  to  his  village,  and  leads  them  to  the  carcass  ; 
taking  credit  to  himself,  of  course,  for  having  killed  it 
during  his  transformation. 

*  Near  the  village  of  a  chief  called  Sandia,  six  of  the 
Makololo  shot  a  cow-elephant.  In  this  district,  the  chief 
claims  one-half  of  any  game  killed  on  his  ground.  This 
right  was,  to  some  extent,  waived :  the  head  man  of  the 
hunting-party  superintended  the  cutting-up  of  the  brute, 
and  apportioned  the  pieces.  "  The  head  and  right  hind- 
leg  belong  to  him  who  killed  the  beast,  that  is,  to  him 
who  inflicted  the  first  wound  ;  the  left  leg  to  him  who  deliv- 
ered the  second,  or  first  touched  the  animal  after  it  fell ; 
the  meat  around  the  eve  to  the  English,  or  chief  of  the 


CUTTING  UP  AN  ELEPHANT. 


183 


travellers ;  and  different  parts  to  the  head  men  of  the 
different  fires,  or  groups,  of  which  the  camp  is  composed  ; 
not  forgetting  to  enjoin  the  preservation  of  the  fat  and 
bowels  for  a  second  distribution."  The  cut  ting-up  of  the 
carcass  is  a  scene  of  wild  excitement.  "  Some  jump  in- 
side, and  roll  about  there  in  their  eagerness  to  seize  the 
precious  fat ;  while  others  run  off  screaming,  with  pieces 
of  the  bloody  meat,  throw  it  on  the  grass,  and  run  back 
for  more :  all  keep  talking  and  shouting  at  the  utmost 
pitch  of  their  voices.  Sometimes  two  or  three,  regardless 
of  all  law,  seize  the  same  piece  of  meat,  and  have  a  brief 
fight  of  words  over  it.  ...  In  an  incredibly  short  time, 
tons  of  meat  are  cut  up,  and  placed  in  separate  heaps 
around."  The  following  is  the  method  of  cooking  the 
elephant's  forefoot,  which  the  white  members  of  the  party 
had  for  breakfast  on  the  following  morning  :  "A  large 
hole  was  dug  in  the  ground,  in  which  a  fire  was  made ; 
and,  when  the  inside  was  thoroughly  heated,  the  entire 
foot  was  placed  in  it,  and  covered  over  with  the  hot  ashes 
and  soil.  Another  fire  was  made  above  the  whole,  and 
kept  burning  all  night.  ...  It  is  a  whitish  mass, 
slightly  gelatinous,  and  sweet,  like  marrow.  .  .  .  Ele- 
phants' trunks  and  tongues  are  also  good,  and,  after 
long  simmering,  much  resemble  the  hump  of  a  buffalo, 
and  the  tongue  of  an  ox  ;  but  all  the  other  meat  is  tough, 
and,  from  its  peculiar  flavor,  only  to  be  eaten  by  a  hungry 
man."  The  natives  eat  enormous  quantities  of  meat 
when  they  have  the  opportunity. 

u  They  boil  as  much  as  their  pots  will  hold,  and  eat 
antil  it  becomes  physically  impossible  for  them  to  stow 
away  any  more.  An  uproarious  dance  follows,  accompa- 
nied with  stentorian  song ;  and  as  soon  as  they  have 
shaken  their  first  course  down,  and  washed  off  the  sweat 


184 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


and  dust  of  the  after-performance,  they  go  to  work  to 
roast  more.,  A  short  snatch  of  sleep  succeeds,  and  they 
are  up  and  at  it  again :  all  night  long  it  is  boil  and  eat, 
roast  and  devour,  with  a  few  brief  interludes  of  sleep. 
Like  other  carnivora,  these  men  can  endure  hunger  for  a 
much  longer  period  than  the  mere  porridge-eating  tribes." 
As  game  was  abundant,  the  weather  excellent  for  camp- 
ing, and  the  route  known,  travelling  was  not  an  unpleas- 
ant task.  Flocks  of  guinea-fowls  and  other  birds  were 
met  with  daily ;  and  as  they  were  in  good  condition,  and 
their  flesh  excellent,  the  party  enjoyed  a  variety  of  flesh- 
meat. 

In  camping,  the  men  took  it  by  turns  to  cut  grass  for 
the  beds  of  the  three  Englishmen,  —  Dr.  Livingstone- 
being  placed  in  the  middle,  Dr.  Kirk  on  the  right,  and 
Charles  Livingstone  on  the  left.  Their  bags,  rifles,  and 
revolvers  were  placed  near  their  beds  ;  and  a  fire  was  kin- 
dled near  their  feet.  A  dozen  fires  were  kindled  in  the 
camp  nightly,  and  replenished,  from  time  to  time,  by  men 
who  were  awakened  by  the  cold.  On  these  grass-beds, 
with  their  rugs  drawn  over  them,  the  three  Englishmen 
slept  soundly  under  some  giant  tree,  through  whose 
branches  they  could  look  up  to  the  clear,  star-spangled, 
moonlit  sky.  Their  attendants  slept  between  mats  of 
palm-ieaves,  which  were  sewn  together  round  three  sides 
of  the  square,  one  being  left  open  to  enable  the  man  to 
crawl  in  between  the  two.  These  sleeping-bags  are  called 
fumbas ;  and,  when  the}7  were  all  at  rest  within  the  en- 
campment, they  had  the  appearance  of  sacks  strewn  round 
about  the  camp-fires. 

Before  going  to  sleep,  the  natives  amused  themselves 
with  songs  and  political  discussions,  carried  on  with  a 
warmth  and  eloquence  worthy  of  an  English  debating- 


ON  THE  MARCH, 


185 


club.  About  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  camp  was 
astir  ;  the  blankets  were  folded,  and  stowed  away  in  bags  ; 
the  fumbas  and  cooking-pots  were  fixed  on  the  end  of  the 
carrying-sticks,  which  were  borne  on  the  shoulders.  The 
cook  received  the  cooking-utensils  used  for  the  English- 
men. After  a  cup  of  tea  or  coffee,  the  whole  party  were 
on  the  march  before  sunrise.  At  nine  breakfast  was 
prepared  at  a  convenient  spot.  In  the  middle  of  the  day 
there  was  a  short  rest  ;  and' early  in  the  afternoon  they 
pitched  their  camp,  the"  white  men  going  hunting,  if 
food  was  required,  and  examining  the  neighborhood. 
Their  rate  of  progress  was  about  two  and  a  half  miles  an 
hour  as  the  crow  flies  ;  and  their  daily  march  lasted  about 
six  hours.  After  several  days  of  this,  the  natives  com- 
plained of  being  fatigued,  even  when  well  fed  with  fresh 
meat.  They  lacked  the  stamina  and  endurance  of  the 
Europeans. 

In  the  Chicova  plains,  a  chief  named  Chitora  brought 
the  party  a  present  of  food  and  drink,  because,  he  said, 
"  He  did  not  wish  us  to  sleep  hungry.  He  had  heard  of  the 
doctor  when  he  passed  down,  and  had  a  great  desire  to 
see  and  converse  with  him  ;  but  he  was  a  child  then,  and 
could  not  speak  in  the  presence  of  great  men.  He  was 
glad  that  he  had  seen  the  English  now,  and  was  sorry 
that  his  people  were  away,  or  he  should  have  made  them 
cook  for  us."  Here,  and  at  other  places,  they  noticed 
that  the  natives  filtered  their  water  through  sand,  even 
although  at  the  time  the  water  of  the  river  was  clear  and 
limpid.  During  the  flood,  as  the  water  is  polluted  with 
all  sorts  of  filth  collected  near  the  native  villages,  the  fil- 
tering process  is  very  necessary. 

The  white  men  were  objects  of  curiosity,  and  at  first 
of  terror,  in  every  village  they  entered ;  but  the  two  don- 
16*  " 


186  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

keys  rivalled  theni  in  the  interest  they  excited.  u  Great 
was  the  astonishment  when  one  of  the  donkeys  began  to 
bray.  The  timid  jumped  more  than  if  a  lion  had  roared 
beside  them.  All  were  startled,  and  stood  in  mute 
amazement  at  the  harsh- voiced  one,  till  the  last  broken 
note  was  uttered  ;  then,  on  being  assured  that  nothing  in 
particular  was  meant,  they  looked  at  each  other,  and 
burst  into  a  loud  laugh  at  their  common  surprise.  When 
one  donkey  stimulated  the  other  to  try  his  vocal  powers, 
the  interest  felt  by  the  startled  natives  must  have  equalled 
that  of  the  Londoners  when  they  first  crowded  to  see  the 
famous  hippopotamus." 

Here  they  examined  seams  of  excellent  coal,  and  found 
lumps  of  it  which  had  been  brought  dowTn  from  the  near 
hill-ranges  by  the  brooks,  and  astonished  the  natives  by  ■ 
showing  them  that  the  black  stones  would  burn.  They 
stated  that  there  was  plenty  of  it  among  the  hills.  Some 
of  the  chiefs  wore  wigs  made  of  the  fibrous  leaves  of  a 
plant  called  i/e,  allied  to  the  aloes :  when  properly  dyed, 
these  wigs  have  a  fine  glossy  appearance.  Mpende  and 
his  people,  who  were  objects  of  some  dread  to  Living- 
stone and  his  companions  in  their  descent  to  the  coast, 
were  now  most  friendly ;  the  chief  apologizing  for  his 
want  of  attention  to  the  traveller  and  his  party  as  they 
passed  on  their  way  to  the  coast.  Several  Banyai  chiefs 
sent  their  head  men  across  the  stream  to  demand  tribute  : 
but  the  travellers  were  glad  to  be  in  a  position  to  resist 
such  exactions.  Halting  near  the  village  of  a  chief  named 
Pangola,  he  demanded  a  rifle  in  exchange  for  the  food 
they  needed,  and  refused  to  trade  on  any  other  terms. 
Fortunately  several  of  the  party  managed  to  shoot  a  water- 
bok,  which  rendered  them  independent  of  the  greedy 
savage,  who  was  intensely  mortified  at  seeing  them  depart 


PORTUGUESE  RUINS. 


187 


without  his  having  traded  with  them  In  any  way.  He 
cried  after  them  as  the}7  passed  on  their  way,  6 '  You  are 
passing  Pangola.  Do  not  you.  see  Pangola?"  But  the 
whole  party  were  so  disgusted  with  him,  that  they  would 
not  deal  with  him  on  any  terms. 

Passing  the  ruins  of  the  once  flourishing  Portuguese 
settlement  of  Zumbo,  which  is  beautifully  situated  in 
the  midst  of  fertile  plains  watered  by  two  splendid  rivers, 
the  travellers  moralized  on  the  worse  than  utter  failure 
attending  the  establishment  of  the  Portuguese  on  the 
east  coast  of  Africa.  "  Not  a  single  art,  save  that  of 
distilling  spirits  by  means  of  a  gun  barrel,  has  ever  been 
learnt  from  strangers  ;  and,  if  all  the  progeny  of  the 
whites  were  at  once  to  leave  the  country,  their  only  me- 
morial would  be  the  ruins  of  a  few  stone  and  mud-built 
walls,  and  that  blighting  relic  of  the  slave-trade,  the 
belief  that  man  may  sell  his  brother  man  ;  a  belief  which 
is  not  of  native  origin,  for  it  is  not  found  except  in  the 
track  of  the  Portuguese."  Beyond  the  ruins  of  their 
churches  at  Zumbo,  there  is  nothing  in  the  habits  and 
beliefs  of  the  people  to  tell  that  Christianity  was  once 
taught  there.  At  Tete,  Senna,  and  Kilimane,  where  the 
Jesuits  have  still  establishments,  alt-hough  shorn  of  their 
original  splendor,  their  want  of  success  is  in  deep  con- 
trast to  the  good  done  among  the  people  of  Ambaca, 
which  is  still  perceptible  after  several  generations.  Main- 
taining a  footing  in  the  country  only  on  the  sufferance  of 
the  Zulus  and  other  native  tribes,  it  is  a  matter  of  deep 
regret  that  the  Portuguese  government  should  be  permitted 
to  stand  in  the  way  of  the  elevation  of  a  people,  and  the 
civilization  of  a  vast  territory. 

Between  Zumbo  and  the  falls,  game  of  all  kinds  was  so 
abundant  that  their  native  attendants  got  fat,  and  be- 


188  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


came  fastidious  in  their  eating,  declining  antelope,  and 
preferring  buffalo-flesh  and  guinea-fowl.  The  natives 
were  curious  and  hospitable  at  all  the  villages  they  passed  ; 
and  their  bold  and  fearless  bearing  told  that  they  were 
now  beyond  the  range  of  the  operations  of  the  slave- 
traders.  Families  were  frequently  met  marching  in  single- 
Qle,  —  the  man  at  the  head,  carrying  nothing  save  his 
arms,  his  wives  and  sons  and  daughters  following,  with 
their  scanty  household  utensils  and  comforts.  These  par- 
ties always  came  in  for  a  share  of  the  white  men's  abun- 
dance of  flesh-meat.  Around  the  foot  of  the  great  tree  of 
audience  at  every  village,  or  suspended  from  its  branches, 
were  collections  of  buffalo  and  antelope  horns  and 
skulls,  the  trophies  of  the  chase.  The  travellers  re- 
marked that  "  at  these  spots  were  some  of  the  most 
splendid  buffalo-heads  we  have  ever  seen  ;  the  horns,  after 
making  a  complete  circle,  had  commenced  a  second  turn. 
This  would  be  a  rich  country  for  a  horn-fancier. " 

The  only  thing  edible  they  wanted  in  the  central  plains 
was  vegetables.  Now  and  again  they  got  a  supply  of  sweet- 
potatoes,  which  allayed  the  disagreeable  craving  which  a 
continuous  diet  of  meat  and  meal  had  induced.  After 
crossing  the  Kafue,  the  party  got  amongst  a  people  of 
Batoka  origin,  and  belonging  to  the  same  tribe  as  several 
of  the  attendants  who  had  left  Liiryanti  with  Livingstone. 
Here  they  were  told  that  Moselekatse's  (Sebituane's  great 
enemy)  chief  town  was  almost  three  hundred  miles  dis- 
tant, and  that  the  English  had  come  to  him,  and  taught 
him  that  it  was  wrong  to  kill  people ;  and  that  now  he 
sent  out  his  men  to  collect  and  sell  ivory.  It  was  refresh- 
ing to  find  that  news  of  this  description  had  travelled  so 
far.  The  Bawee,  a  people  who  go  entirely  nude,  or 
clothed  only  in  a  coat  of  red  ochre,  were  very  friendly. 


THE  GO-NAKEDS. 


189 


The  party  tried  to  discover  the  reason  for  their  going 
naked,  but  could  only  learn  that  it  was  the  custom.  The 
habit  was  only  confined  to  the  males,  the  women  being 
always  more  or  less  clothed.  They  felt  no  shame,  nor 
could  any  feeling  be  aroused  by  laughing  and  joking  at 
their  appearance.  "  They  evidently  felt  no  less  decent 
than  we  did  with  our  clothes  on ;  but,  whatever  may  be 
said  in  favor  of  nude  statues,  it  struck  us  that  man  in  a 
state  of  nature  is  a  most  ungainly  animal.  Could  we  see 
a  number  of  the  degraded  of  our  own  lower  classes  in  like 
guise,  it  is  probable,  that  without  the  black  color,  which 
acts  somehow  as  a  dress,  they  would  look  worse  still." 

Leaving  the  bank  of  the  Zambesi  for  a  time,  the  party 
travelled  through  the  Batoka  highlands,  where  the  free 
air  of  the  hillside  was  most  invigorating  and  beneficial, 
especially  to  Dr.  Kirk,  who  had  suffered  from  fever.  The 
country,  although  very  fertile,  is  thinly  populated  ;  Sebit- 
iiane  and  Moselekatse  having  ravaged  it  in  their  numer- 
ous forays.  The  Batoka  are  a  peace-loving  and  industrious 
people  :  they  were  so  hospitable  that  it  would  have  pained 
them  if  the  party  had  passed  without  receiving  something, 
^ery  frequently  they  prepared  their  camp  for  them,  — 
smoothing  the  ground  with  their  hoes  for  their  beds,  col- 
lecting grass  and  firewood,  erecting  a  bush  fence  to 
protect  them  from  the  wind,  and  carrying  wTater  from  the 
distant  well  or  stream. 

Once  they  wrere  visited  by  a  noble  specimen  of  the  Go- 
Nakeds,  clothed  only  in  a  tobacco-pipe,  with  a  stem  two 
feet  long,  wound  round  with  polished  ivory.  "  God  made 
him  naked,"  he  said,  "  and  he  had  therefore  never  worn 
»ny  clothing." 

Great  quantities  of  tobacco  are  grown  in  the  Batoka 
country,  which  is  famed  for  its  quality.    They  are  inveter- 


190  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


ate  smokers,  bat  always  had  the  politeness  to  ask  the 
white  men's  permission  before  smoking  in  their  presence. 
Above  Karibs,  the  people  had  never  before  been  visited 
by  foreigners.  The  chief  of  Koba,  on  being  asked  if 
any  tradition  existed  among  his  people  of  strangers  hav- 
ing visited  the  country,  answered,  "  Not  at  all :  our  fath- 
ers all  died  without  telling  us  that  they  had  seen  men  like 
you.  To-day  I  am  exalted,  in  seeing  what  they  never 
saw  ; "  while  others,  in  a  spirit  worthy  of  Charles  Lamb, 
who  threatened  to  write  for  the  ancients,  because  the 
moderns  did  not  appreciate  him  properly,  said,  "  We  are 
the  true  ancients  :  we  have  seen  stranger  things  than  any 
of  our  ancestors,  in  seeing  }rou." 

At  Moachemba,  the  first  of  the  Batoka  villages  which 
owed  allegiance  to  Sekeletu,  the  party  distinctly  saw  the 
smoke  of  the  Victoria  Falls,  twenty  miles  distant.  Here 
the  native  attendants  heard  news  from  home.  Takelaiig's 
wife  had  been  killed  by  Sekeletu's  head  man  at  the  falls, 
on  a  charge  of  witchcraft ;  Inchikola's  two  wives,  believ- 
ing him  to  be  dead,  had  married  again ;  and  Masakasa 
was  intensely  disquieted  to  hear  that  two  years  before,  his 
friends,  giving  him  up  for  dead,  had  held  a  kind  of  Irish 
wake  in  his  honor,  slaughtered  all  his  oxen,  and  thrown 
his  shield  over  the  falls.  He  declared  he  would  devour 
them,  and  when  they  came  to  salute  him  would  say,  "  I 
am  dead  ;  I  am  not  here  ;  I  belong  to  another  world,  and 
should  stink  if  I  came  among  you."  The  Batoka  wife  of 
Sima,  who  had  remained  faithful  to  him  during  his  ab- 
sence, came  to  welcome  him  back,  and  took  the  }'Oung 
wife  he  had  brought  with  him  from  Tete  away  with  her 
without  a  murmur  of  disapproval.  At  night,  when  the 
camp  was  quiet,  Takelang  fired  his  musket,  and  cried  out, 
4  4 1  am  weeping  for  my  wife ;  my  court  is  desolate ;  I 
have  no  home  ! 99  ending  with  a  loud  wail  of  anguish. 


THE  VICTORIA  FALLS  REVISITED. 


19, 


Dr.  Livingstone  and  his  English  friends  had  news  also  to 
receive  of  a  painful  character.  An  attempt  to  establish  a 
mission  at  Lin}Tanti,  under  the  Rev.  F.  C.  Helmore,  had 
fail ed.  The  mission  originally  consisted  of  nine  Europeans, 
and  thirteen  colored  people  from  the  neighborhood  of  Kuru- 
man.  Of  these,  five  Europeans,  including  Mr.  Helmore 
and  his  wife,  and  four  natives,  died  within  three  months ; 
and  the  survivors  retreated  disheartened  from  the  region 
which  had  been  so  deadly  to  their  devoted  companions. 

The  various  head  men  of  Sekeletu,  having  been  holding 
foraj^s  among  the  Batoka,  had  to  be  lectured  by  Dr.  Liv- 
ingstone, —  a  discipline  which  they  took  in  good  part, 
excusing  themselves  by  endeavoring  to  prove  that  they 
were  in  the  right,  and  could  not  avoid  fighting. 

On  the  9th  of  August,  1860,  the  party  reached  the 
Victoria  Falls,  and  Dr.  Livingstone  and  his  two  compan- 
ions were  rowed  through  the  rapids  to  Garden  Island,  to 
obtain  a  view  of  the  falls.  The  canoe  in  which  they  sat 
was  owned  by  Tuba  Mokoro,  which  means  u  Smasher 
of  Canoes  ; "  a  somewhat  ominous  title,  which  his  success 
and  skill  on  the  present  occasion  belied.  The  party  had 
to  embark  several  miles  above  the  falls,  and  were  strictly 
enjoined  to  maintain  silence.  For  a  considerable  dis- 
tance, the  river  was  smooth  and  tranquil ;  the  beautiful  is- 
lands, densely  covered  with  tropical  vegetation,  adding  to 
the  pleasure  felt  in  the  rapid  and  easy  movement  of  the 
craft.  Near  the  falls,  the  surface  of  the  river  got  broken 
by  rocks,  which,  as  the  water  was  then  low,  protruded 
their  heads  above  the  stream,  breaking  the  current  into 
boiling  and  foaming  eddies,  which  it  required  all- the  skill 
of  the  boatmen  to  pilot  their  way  through.  "  There  were 
places  where  the  utmost  exertion  of  both  men  had  to  be  put 
forth  in  order  to  force  the  canoe  to  the  only  safe  part  of 


192  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


the  rapids,  and  to  prevent  it  from  sweeping  down  broad- 
side, when,  in  a  twinkling,  we  should  have  found  ourselves 
floundering  among  the  plotuses  and  cormorants,  which 
were  engaged  in  diving  for  their  breakfast  of  small  fish. 
At  times  it  seemed  as  if  nothing  could  save  us  from  dash- 
ing, in  our  headlong  race,  against  the  rocks,  which,  now 
that  the  river  was  low,  jutted  out  of  the  water  ;  but,  just 
at  the  very  nick  of  time,  Tuba  passed  the  word  to  the 
steerman,  and  then  with  ready  pole  turned  the  canoe 
a  little  aside,  and  we  glided  smoothly  past  the  threatened 
danger.  Never  was  canoe  more  admirably  managed.  .  .  . 
We  were  driving  swiftly  down.  A  black  rock,  over  which 
the  foam  flew,  lay  directly  in  our  path ;  the  pole  was 
planted  against  it  as  readily  as  ever,  but  it  slipped  just  as 
Tuba  put  forth  his  strength  to  turn  the  bow  off.  We 
struck  hard,  and  were  half  full  of  water  in  a  moment. 
Tuba  recovered  himself  as  speedily,  shoved  off  the  bow, 
and  shot  the  canoe  into  a  still,  shallow  place,  to  bale  out 
the  water." 

At  the  falls  they  met  an  Englishman,  a  Mr.  Baldwin, 
from  Natal,  who  had  reached  them,  his  only  guide  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  way  being  his  pocket-compass.  He 
had  anticipated  the  arrival  of  his  wagon  by  two  days. 
Mashotlam  had  ferried  him  across  the  stream  ;  and,  when 
nearly  over,  he  had  jumped  out,  and  swum  ashore.  u  If," 
said  the  chief,  u  he  had  been  devoured  by  one  of  the 
crocodiles  which  abound  there,  the  English  would  have 
blamed  us  for  his  death.  He  nearly  inflicted  a  great 
injury  upon  us  :  therefore,  we  said,  he  must  pay  us  a  fine." 
Mr.  Baldwin  was,  when  Dr.  Livingstone  and  his  friends 
met  him,  contentedly  waiting  the  arrival  of  his  wagon,  so 
that  he  might  pay  the  fine. 

On  reaching  Sesheke,  where  Sekeletu  was,  Dr.  Living- 


SEKELETU  ILL  AND  DISPIRITED.  193 


stone  found  matters  in  a  bad  way  with  the  Makololo. 
Sekeletu  was  suffering  from  leprosy,  and  had  withdrawn 
himself  from  the  sight  of  his  people.  A  long-continued 
drought  had  almost  destroyed  the  crops,  and  the  country 
was  suffering  from  a  partial  famine.  The  illness  and 
inactivity  of  Sekeletu  had  induced  chiefs  and  head  men 
at  a  distance  to  do  as  they  pleased ;  which  meant,  too 
often,  the  ill-usage  of  their  immediate  dependants,  and 
the  plundering  of  neighboring  and  friendly  tribes. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  party,  an  unbroken  stream  of  vis- 
itors poured  in  upon  them,  all  desirous  of  paying  their 
respects  to  Dr.  Livingstone,  and  to  tell  him  the  haps  and 
mishaps  which  had  befallen  them  during  his  absence.  All 
were  in  low  spirits.  Sekeletu,  believing  himself  bewitched, 
had  slain  a  number  of  his  chief  men,  together  with  their 
families  ;  distant  friendly  tribes  were  revolting ;  famine 
was  upon  them ;  and  the  power  of  the  Makololo  was 
passing  away.  These  forebodings  were  only  too  soon 
realized.  In  1864  Sekeletu  died ;  and,  in  the  struggle 
which  ensued  for  the  succession,  the  wide  kingdom  his 
father  had  conquered,  and  ruled  over  with  a  wisdom 
rare  among  his  peers,  was  broken  up. 

They  found  Sekeletu  sitting  in  a  covered  wagon,  which 
was  enclosed  in  a  high  wall  of  reeds.  His  face  was 
slightly  disfigured  by  the  thickening  and  discoloration 
of  the  skin  where  the  leprosy  had  passed  over  it.  He 
had  a  firm  belief  that  he  had  been  bewitched.  As  the 
doctors  of  his  own  tribe  could  do  nothing  for  him,  a 
female  doctor  of  the  Manyeti  tribe  was  endeavoring 
to  cure  him  at  the  time  of  their  arrival.  After  some 
difficulty,  she  allowed  the  white  men  to  take  her  patient 
in  charge ;  and,  under  their  treatment,  he  all  but  recov- 
ered. 

IT 


194  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

The  two  horses  left  by  Dr.  Livingstone  in  1 853  were 
still  alive,  notwithstanding  the  severe  discipline  to  which 
they  had  been  subjected.  Sekeletu  had  a  great  passion 
for  horses  ;  and,  about  a  year  before  the  arrival  of  Living- 
stone and  his  friends  from  Tete,  a  party  of  Makololo  were 
sent  to  Benguela  on  the  west  coast,  who  had  purchased 
five  horses  ;  but  they  had  all  died  on  the  journey,  through 
being  bewitched,  as  they  believed  ;  and  they  arrived  with 
nothing  to  show  for  them  save  their  tails.  The  mer- 
chants at  Benguela  had  treated  them  kindly,  and  made 
them  presents  of  clothing  and  other  articles.  As  they 
had  only  recently  arrived,  and  their  clothes  were  com- 
paratively unworn,  they  proved,  when  arrayed  in  their 
best,  to  be  as  well,  if  not  better,  dressed  than  Living- 
stone and  his  white  friends.  "  They  wore  shirts  well 
washed  and  starched,  coats  and  trousers,  white  socks,  and 
patent-leather  boots,  a  red  Kilmarnock  cowl  on  the  head, 
and  a  brown  wide-awake  on  the  top  of  that."  They,  and 
the  travelled  natives  who  had  come  from  Tete,  fraternized, 
and  held  themselves  to  be  something  superior  on  account 
of  what  they  had  seen ;  but,  as  in  more  enlightened  re- 
gions, there  was  not  wanting  a  party  who  believed  in 
ignorance.  "They  had  seen  the  sea,  had  they?  And 
what  is  that?  nothing  but  water.  They  could  see  plenty 
of  water  at  home,  —  ay,  more  than  they  wanted  to  see ; 
and  white  people  came  to  their  town :  why,  then,  travel 
to  the  coast  to  look  at  them  ? " 

Sekeletu  was  well  pleased  with  the  articles  brought  for 
him.  The  sugar-mill  had  been  left  at  Tete,  being  too 
bulky  to  be  carried  with  them.  On  the  arrival  of  a  proper 
steamer  for  the  navigation  of  the  Zambesi,  he  was  in- 
formed it  would  be  sent  up  as  far  as  the  falls.  In  his 
ignorance  as  regards  the  power  of  artillery,  he  asked  if 


HONESTY  OF  THE  MAKOLOLO. 


195 


cannon  could  not  blow  away  the  falls,  and  allow  the  ves* 
sel  to  come  up  to  Sesheke. 

Two  packages  containing  letters  and  newspapers  from 
Kuruman  were  lying  at  Linyanti ;  and  a  messenger  was 
sent  for  them,  who  returned  with  only  one  (the  other 
being  too  heavy  for  him) ,  within  seven  days,  during  which 
time  he  had  travelled  two  hundred  and  forty  miles. 

As  Dr.  Livingstone  wished  to  get  some  more  medicine 
and  papers  out  of  the  wagon  he  had  left  at  Linyanti  in 
1853,  he  determined  to  proceed  there  himself.  On  his 
arrival,  he  found  the  wagon  and  its  contents  untouched 
from  the  time  of  his  departure  in  1853,  and  every  thing 
in  its  place.  This  illustrates  the  trustworthy  character 
of  the  Makololo,  which  was  still  further  exemplified  by 
the  discovery  of  one  of  the  books  of  notes  he  had  left 
with  Sekeletu  on  his  departure  for  the  west  coast  in  1853. 
It  will  be  remembered,  that,  fearing  he  was  dead,  Seke- 
letu had  given  the  books,  together  with  a  letter  addressed 
to  Mr.  Moffat,  to  a  native  trader,  and  that  nothing  further 
had  been  heard  of  them.  On  being  told  that  the  trader 
to  whom  they  had  said  they  had  given  the  books  and 
letters  had  denied  having  received  them,  Seipone,  one 
of  Sekeletu's  wives,  said,  "  He  lies:  I  gave  them  to  him 
myself."  Ths  trader  afterwards  went  to  Mosilikatse's 
country ;  and,  his  conscience  having  bothered  him  it  is 
presumed,  "  one  of  the  volumes  was  put  into  the  mail-bag 
coming  from  the  south,  which  came  to  hand  with  the  lock 
taken  off  in  quite  a  scientific  manner. " 

In  the  wagon  Livingstone  found  the  supply  of  medicine 
he  had  left  there,  untouched ;  and  it  was  a  melancholy 
reflection,  that  Mr.  Helmore,  and  the  other  members  of  his 
mission,  should  have  died  there,  with  the  medicines  they 
needed  lying  within  a  hundred  yards  of  their  encamp* 


196  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


ment.  In  returning  to  Sesheske,  lie  heard  of  a  lion  being 
killed  by  the  bite  of  a  serpent.  Animals  were  frequently 
the  victims  of  poisonous  snakes  ;  but  he  seldom  heard  of 
their  attacking  human  beings.  While  generally  accepting 
the  leading  truths  of  Christianity,  there  were  some  habits 
and  superstitions  which  they  found  it  difficult  to  shake. 
The  belief  in  witchcraft  and  sorcery  was  deeply  rooted. 
They  said,  "  They  needed  the  book  of  God;  but  the 
hearts  of  black  men  are  not  the  same  as  those  of  the 
whites.  They  had  real  sorcerers  among  them.  If  that 
was  guilt  which  custom  led  them  to  do,  it  lay  between  the 
white  man  and  Jesus,  who  had  not  given  them  the  book, 
nor  favored  them  as  he  had  the  whites."  As  to  cattle- 
lifting  from  their  weaker  neighbors,  they  said,  "Why 
should  these  Makalaka  (a  term  of  contempt  for  the 
blacker  tribes)  possess  cattle  if  they  cannot  fight  for 
them  ?  "    The  pithy  border  creed,  — 

"  The  good  old  rule 
Sufficeth  them,  the  simple  plan, 
That  they  should  take  who  have  the  power, 
And  they  should  keep  who  can,"  — 

was  universally  understood  in  its  naked  simplicity ;  and, 
despite  their  general  ignorance,  they  could  reason  very 
ingeniously. 


CHAPTER  XIL 


DESCENDS   THE    ZAMBESI.  ARRIVAL    OP  BISHOP  MACKEN- 
ZIE.         LIBERATES    A    BAND    OP    SLAVES.   DEATH  OF 

BISHOP    MACKENZIE.        ARRIVAL    AND    DEATH    OP  MRS. 

LIVINGSTONE 

The  party  left  Sesheske  on  the  17th  of  September, 
1860 ;  Leshore  and  Pitsane  (the  latter  the  factotum  of 
Dr.  Livingstone  in  his  journey  to  and  from  Loanda) ,  and 
several  Batoka  men,  being  sent  with  them  to  aid  them  in 
their  journey,  and  bring  the  merchandise  left  at  Tete, 
and  a  supply  of  medicine  for  Sekeletu,  who  was  then 
nearly  cured  of  his  loathsome  complaint.  Although  he 
and  his  people  were  suffering  from  famine,  Sekeletu  had 
been  generous  in  his  treatment  of  Dr.  Livingstone  and 
his  companions ;  and  when  they  left  he  gave  them  six 
oxen  for  their  support  until  they  reached  the  country  below 
the  falls,  where  food  was  more  abundant.  The  party 
passed  down  the  valley  of  the  Zambesi,  sometimes  by 
land,  and  sometimes  in  canoes; 'the  latter  being  either 
bought  or  borrowed,  or  freely  loaned  for  their  use  without 
reward,  according  to  the  friendly  or  unfriendly  character 
of  the  proprietors.  Below  the  junction  of  the  Kafue 
with  the  Zambesi,  they  met  a  half-caste  ivory  hunter 
named  Sequasha,  who,  along  with  a  large  number  of 
armed  slaves,  had  been  hunting  elephants  since  they 
passed  up  the  river.  He  told  them  that  his  men  had 
killed  two  hundred  and  ten  elephants  during  the  trip. 

17*  197 


198  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


This  Sequasha  was  an  unscrupulous  villain.  Shortly  be- 
fore this  he  had  entered  into  a  league  with  the  head  man 
of  a  chief  Mpangwe,  near  Zumbo,  to  kill  the  chief.  With 
a  picked  party  of  slaves  armed  with  loaded  muskets,  he 
visited  the  unsuspecting  chief,  who  received  him  kindly ; 
and,  while  he  was  ministering  to  their  wants,  the  chief 
and  twenty  of  his  people  were  shot  in  cold  blood.  For 
this  diabolical  service,  he  received  ten  tusks  ;  and  the  head 
man  usurped  the  place  of  his  murdered  chief.  Sequasha 
carried  a  plentiful  supply  of  wares  with  him  to  purchase 
tusks  and  food  ;  and,  among  other  articles,  he  had  a  quan- 
ta of  American  clocks,  which  got  him  into  trouble  with 
a  tribe  of  Banvai.  He  set  them  all  going  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  chief,  who  was  greatly  frightened  at  the 
strange  noise  they  made  ;  and,  imagining  that  they  were 
intended  to  bewitch  himself  and  his  people,  it  was  decided 
that  he  should  pay  a  heavy  fine  of  cloth  and  beads  for  his 
imprudence. 

They  again  met  Sequasha  at  Senna,  when  he  confessed 
to  having  brought  down  25,800  lbs.  of  ivory.  At  Tete 
he  was  afterward  cast  into  prison  ;  the  reason  given  being 
his  disorderly  conduct  in  the  interior,  the  true  reason 
being  the  desire  to  share  a  part  of  his  wealth.  He  wa3 
soon  after  set  at  liberty. 

At  the  Mburuma  Rapids,  the  party  had  a  striking 
instance  of  the  presence  of  mind,  and  devotion,  of  the 
Makololo.  While  passing  the  most  dangerous  of  the 
rapids,  the  two  canoes  filled  with  water,  and  were  in 
danger  of  being  swamped,  when,  of  course,  the  whole  party 
must  have  perished.  Two  men,  without  a  moment's  hes- 
itation, leap  3d  out  of  each  of  the  canoes,  and  ordered  a 
Batoka  man  to  do  the  same,  as  "  the  white  men  must  be 
saved."  —  "  I  cannot  swim,"  said  the  Batoka.  "Jump 


VORACIOUS  CROCODILES. 


199 


out,  then,  and  hold  on  to  the  canoe."  Swimming  along- 
side, they  guided  the  swamping  canoes  down  the  swift 
current,  to  the  foot  of  the  rapid,  and  then  ran  them 
ashore  to  bale  them  out. 

In  one  of  the  Kebrabasa  Rapids,  Dr.  Kirk's  canoe  was 
swamped,  the  occupants  scrambling  ashore  with  difficulty  ; 
but,  unfortunately,  a  chronometer,  a  barometer,  and  his 
notes  of  the  journey,  and  botanical  drawings  of  the  fruit- 
trees  in  the  interior,  were  lost.  The  ri^er  was  very  low, 
and  crocodiles  were  numerous.  On  one  occasion,  as  they 
were  dragging  the  dead  body  of  a  hippopotamus  behind 
one  of  the  canoes,  they  rose  in  such  numbers,  and  tugged 
so  hard  at  the  huge  carcass,  that  they  had  to  cut  it  adrift 
to  save  the  canoe  from  being  swamped.  On  another  occa- 
sion, one  of  these  monsters  seized  a  water-buck,  which 
had  been  wounded  by  a  shot,  and  dragged  it  into  the 
river.  The  poor  buck  made  a  desperate  resistance,  and 
succeeded  in  freeing  itself,  when  another  crocodile  gave 
chase  ;  but  a  ball  aimed  at  it  drove  it  to  the  bottom.  At 
many  places  in  the  interior,  stockades  were  erected  to  pre- 
serve the  women  from  the  attacks  of  crocodiles  while  tak- 
ing water  from  the  river.  At  Tete  and  Senna,  where 
many  slave-women  were  seized  by  crocodiles,  no  such 
precautions  were  taken,  even  although  Livingstone  offered 
a  subscription  towards  the  expense.  The  lives  of  slaves 
were  too  valueless  to  occasion  either  thought  or  trouble 
for  their  preservation,  to  men  otherwise  humane. 

After  the  accident  to  Dr.  Kirk's  canoe,  the  party  passed 
the  remainder  of  the  rapids  on  foot,  through  a  rough  and 
tr}Ting  country,  which  greatly  fatigued  the  whole  party, 
one  of  the  ,  two  donkeys  they  had  with  them  dying  from 
sheer  exhaustion.  Although  the  natives  are  very  partial 
to  the  flesh  of  the  zebra  and  the  quagga,  which  are  a  sort 


200 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


of  second  cousins  to  the  donkey,  they  wo  aid  not  eat  its 
flesh.  They  said,  "  It  would  be  like  eating  man  himself, 
because  the  donkey  lives  with  man,  and  is  his  bosom  com- 
panion." 

The  party  arrived  safely  at-Tete  on  the  23d  of  Novem- 
ber, after  an  absence  of  a  little  over  six  months.  The 
two  English  sailors  had  enjoyed  excellent  health,  and  be- 
haved themselves  admirably  during  the  absence  of  the 
party.  Their  gardening  operations  turned  out  a  failure. 
A  hippopotamus  had  paid  the  garden  a  visit,  and  eaten  up 
all  the  vegetables ;  and  the  sheep  they  had  ate  up  the 
cotton  when  it  was  in  flower  ;  the  crocodiles  devoured  the 
sheep  left  with  them  ;  and  two  monkeys  they  purchased 
ate  the  eggs  of  the  fowls  ;  and,  in  turn,  the  natives  relieved 
them  of  all  care  of  the  latter  by  landing  on  the  island  dur- 
ing the  night,  and  stealing  them.  They  were  more  suc- 
cessful in  bargaining  with  the  natives  for  food.  Their  pur- 
chases were  all  made  on  board  the  steamer;  and,  when 
more  was  demanded  than  the  market  price,  they  brought  a 
chameleon  out  of  the  cabin,  an  animal  of  which  the  na- 
tives have  a  mortal  dread,  and  thus  settled  the  matter  at 
once,  by  clearing  the  deck  of  the  exorbitant  traders. 

One  night  they  were  roused  by  hearing  shrieks  of  dis- 
tress, and,  on  rowing  to  the  spot,  found  a  woman  in  the 
jaws  of  a  crocodile.  Rescuing  her  with  the  loss  of  a  leg 
below  the  knee,  they  took  her  on  board,  gave  her  a  bottle 
of  rum,  bandaged  the  leg,  and  carried  her  to  her  hut  in 
the  village.  Next  morning  they  found  the  bandages  torn 
off,  and  the  unfortunate  creature  left  to  die.  "  I  believe," 
remarked  one  of  the  sailors,  "  her  master  was  angry  with 
us  for  saving  her  life,  seeing  as  how  she  had  lost  her 
leg." 

Starting  for  the  mouth  of  the  Kongone,  where  thej 


ARRIVAL  OF  BISHOP  MACKENZIE. 


201 


expected  to  meet  some  English  cruisers  with  supplies  and 
the  new  steamer  they  had  ordered,  they  were  compelled  to 
abandon  the  "  Ma-Robert,"  as  she  would  keep  afloat  no 
longer.  They  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Kongone  on  the 
4th  of  January,  1861,  and  found  that  the  Portuguese  had 
erected  a  custom-house  there,  and  also  a  hut  for  a  black 
lance-corporal  and  three  men.  The  party  took  up  their 
quarters  in  the  custom-house.  The  soldiers  were  suffer- 
ing from  hunger.  The  provisions  of  Dr.  Livingstone's 
party  were  also  becoming  exhausted  ;  but,  as  a  large  herd 
of  water-bucks  were  found  in  a  creek  between  the  Kon- 
gone and  East  Luabo,  they  were  not  put  to  any  serious 
strait  during  the  month  they  waited  for  the  arrival  of  a 
ship.  From  drinking  the  brackish  water,  and  eating  the 
fresh  pasturage  which  is  saline  near  the  coast,  the  flesh 
of  the  antelopes  wras  much  sweeter  and  more  tender  than 
in  the  interior,  where  it  is  so  dry  and  tough  that  the  na- 
tives, who  are  not  over-fastidious,  refuse  to  eat  it  for  any 
length  of  time.  The  eggs  of  the  pelican  and  the  turtle 
were  found  in  abundance,  and,  together  with  several  varie- 
ties of  fish,  assisted  in  giving  a  little  variety  to  their  lim- 
ited cuisine. 

They  found  some  natives  pounding  the  woody  stems  of 
a  poisonous  climbing  plant,  and  hanging  it  up  in  bundles. 
Having  staked  off  a  portion  of  the  stream  with  bushes  to 
prevent  the  exit  of  the  fish,  the  poison  was  poured  into 
the  water,  and  either  killed  the  fish-,  or  stupefied  them,  so 
that  they  were  easily  secured. 

On  the  31st  of  January,  their  new  ship,  u  The  Pioneer," 
anchored  outside  the  bar  ;  but,  owing  to  the  state  of  the 
weather,  she  did  not  venture  in  until  the  4th  cf  Februar}r. 
Shortly  after,  two  of  II. M.S.  cruisers  arrived,  bringing 
with  them  Bishop  Mackenzie,  and  the  Oxford  and  Cam- 


202 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


bridge  missions  to  the  tribes  of  the  Shire  and  Lake 
Nyassa.  The  mission  consisted  of  six  Englishmen  and 
five  colored  men  from  the  Cape  ;  and  as  Dr.  Livingstone  and 
his  party  were  under  orders  to  explore  the  Eovuma,  about 
seven  hundred  miles  to  the  north  of  the  Zambesi,  and  be- 
yond Portuguese  territory,  they  were  somewhat  at  a  loss 
what  to  do  with  them.  If  they  acceded  to  Bishop  Macken- 
zie's wishes,  and  conveyed  them  at  once  to  Chibisa's  village 
on  the  Shire,  and  left  them  there,  the}'  dreaded,  that,  as  they 
had  no  medical  attendant,  they  might  meet  the  fate  of 
Mr.  Helmore  and  his  party  at  Linyanti.  It  was  at  last 
arranged  that  the  bishop  should,  after  accompanying  his 
companions  to  Johanna,  where  they  would  await  his  re- 
turn with  H.M.  Consul,  Mr.  Lumley,  go  with  the  expedi- 
tion on  board  "  The  Pioneer"  to  the  Eovuma,  in  the  hope 
that  by  this  route  access  might  be  found  to  Lake  Nyassa, 
and  the  valley  of  the  Shire. 

u  The  Pioneer"  anchored  in  the  mouth  of  the  Eovuma 
on  the  25th  of  February  ;  which  they  found  to  have  a  mag- 
nificent natural  harbor  and  bay.  They  sailed  up  the  river 
for  thirty  miles,  though  a  hill}'  and  magnificently  wooded 
country,  but  were  compelled  to  return  as  the  river  was 
rapidly  falling  in  volume,  and  they  were  afraid  that  the 
ship  might  ground  altogether,  and  have  to  lie  there  until 
the  next  rainy  season.  Soon  after  reaching  the  sea,  fever 
prostrated  the  bulk  of  the  crew  ;  and  the  command  and 
navigation  of  the  ship  devolved  upon  Dr.  Livingstone, 
tvho  was  quite  equal  to  the  occasion.  He  dryly  remarks 
that  "  The  habit  of  finding  the  geographical  positions, on 
land  renders  it  an  easy  task  to  steer  a  steamer,  with  only 
three  or  four  sails  set,  at  sea  ;  where,  if  one  does  not  run 
ashore,  no  one  follows  to  find  out  an  error,  and  where  a 
current  affords  a  ready  excuse  for  every  blunder."  .After 


A  SLAVE  PARTY. 


203 


calling  at  Johanna  for  the  bishop's  friends,  the}-  sailed  for 
the  mouth  of  the  Zambesi,  and  steamed  up  that  river  to 
the  Shire,  up  which  they  ascended  as  far  as  Chibisa's 
village  ;  the  ship  being  dragged  over  the  shallows  with 
extreme  difficulty.  She  drew  five  feet  of  water,  which 
rendered  her  quite  useless  for  the  navigation  of  either  of 
the  three  great  rivers  which  flowed  through  the  tract  of 
country  they  were  accredited  to  during  the  dry  season. 

On  arriving  at  Chibisa's,  they  learned  that  war  was 
raging  in  the  Manganja  country  $  and  that  on  the  follow- 
ing day  a  slave  party,  on  its  way  to  Tete,  would  pass 
through  the  village,  ' 6  Shall  we  interfere  ? "  was  the 
question  asked  of  each  other.  On  the  one  hand,  there 
was  the  risk  to  be  run,  if  they  did,  of  irritating  the  au- 
thorities at  Tete,  where  the  principal  portion  of  the  pri- 
vate baggage  of  the  party  was  stored,  and  which  might 
be  confiscated  in  retaliation.  On  the  other  hand,  Dr.  Liv- 
ingstone and  the  whole  party  were  indignant  that  his 
steps  should  be  followed  by  slave-parties,  who  had  never 
entered  the  country  before,  and  called  themselves  his 
children  and  followers,  while  they  extended  the  range  of 
accursed  traffic,  which  he  had  gone  through  so  much  pri- 
vations to  put  down.  The  decision,  as  might  have  been 
expected,  was  that  they  should  run  all  risks,  and  do  what 
they  could  to  stop  the  traffic. 

"  A  long  line  of  manacled  men  and  women  made  their 
appearance.  The  black  drivers,  armed  with  muskets,  and 
bedecked  with  various  articles  of  finery,  marched  jauntily 
in  the  front,  middle,  and  rear  of  the  line,  some  of  them 
blowing  exulting  notes  out  of  long  tin  horns.  They 
seemed  to  feel  that  they  were  doing  a  very  noble  thing, 
and  might  proudly  march  with  an  air  of  triumph.  But. 
the  instant  the  fellows  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  English, 


204  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

the}'  darted  off  like  mad  into  the  forest ;  so  fast,  indeed, 
that  we  caught  but  a  glimpse  of  their  red  caps,  and  the 
soles  of  their  feet.  The  chief  of  the  party  alone  re- 
mained ;  and  he,  from  being  in  front,  had  his  hand  tightly 
grasped  by  a  Makololo.  He  proved  to  be  a  well-k  iown 
slave  of  the  late  commandant  at  Tete,  and  for  some  time 
our  own  attendant  while  there.  On  asking  him  how  he 
obtained  these  captives,  he  replied,  he  had  bought  them ; 
but,  on  our  inquiring  of  the  people  themselves,  all  save 
four  said  they  had  been  captured  in  war.  While  this  in- 
quiry was  going  on,  he  bolted  too.  The  captives  knelt 
down,  and,  in  their  way  of  expressing  thanks,  clapped 
their  hands  with  great  energy.  The}-  were  thus  left 
entirely  in  our  hands  ;  and  knives  were  soon  at  work  cut- 
ting women  and  children  loose.  It  was  more  difficult  to 
cut  the  men  adrift,  as  each  had  his  neck  in  the  fork  of  a 
stout  stick,  six  or  seven  feet  long,  and  kept  in  b}T  an  iron 
rod,  which  was  riveted  at  both'  ends  across  the  throat. 
With  a  saw,  luckily  in  the  bishop's  baggage,  one  by  one 
the  men  were  sawn  out  into  freedom.  The  worn-en,  on 
being  told  to  take  the  meal  they  were  carrying,  and  cook 
breakfast  for  themselves  and  the  children,  seemed  to 
consider  the  news  too  good  to  be  true  ;  but,  after  a  little 
coaxing,  went  at  it  with  alacrity,  and  made  a  capital  fire 
by  which  to  boil  their  pots  with  the  slave  sticks  and 
bonds,  their  old  acquaintances  through  many  a  sad  night 
and  weary  day.  Many  were  mere  children,  about  four 
years  of  age  and  under.  One  little  boy,  with  the  sim- 
plicity of  childhood,  said  to  our  men,  '  The  others  tied 
and  starved  us :  you  cut  the  ropes,  and  tell  us  to  eat. 
What  sort  of  people  are  you  ?  Where  do  you  come  from  ?  9 
Two  of  the  women  had  been  shot  the  day  before  for  at  - 
tempting to  untie  the  thongs.  .  .  .  One  woman  had  her 


FIGHT  WITH  THE  AJAWA.  205 


infant's  brains  knocked  out,  because  she  could  not  carry 
her  load  and  it ;  and  a  man  was  despatched  with  an  axe, 
because  he  had  broken  down  with  fatigue." 

The  number  liberated  was  eighty-four  in  all ;  and  on 
being  told  that  they  were  at  liberty  to  go  where  they 
pleased,  or  remain  with  the  mission,  they  chose  the  latter. 
During  several  days  following,  many  more  captives  were 
liberated,  their  drivers  running  from  before  the  face  of 
the  white  men.  Months  afterwards,  at  Tete,  several  mer- 
chants, all  of  whom  were  engaged  in  the  slave-trade,  re- 
marked to  Dr.  Livingstone  that  he  had  released  some  of 
the  governor's  slaves,  to  which  he  replied  that  he  had 
liberated  several  groups  of  slaves  in  the  Manganja 
counitry. 

Leaving  the  rescued  slaves,  the  party  started  to  visit 
the^Ajawa  people,  who  were  carrying  war  and  slavery 
among  the  Manganja,  and  came  upon  them  in  the  act  of 
sacking  and  burning  a  village,  where  Dr.  Livingstone  and 
his  friends  had  been  previously  entertained  by  the  peace- 
ful inhabitants,  so  many  of  whom  were  then  engaged  in 
weaving  cotton,  that  they  jestingly  called  it  u  the  Paisley 
of  the  hills."  After  engaging  with  the  bisho  )  in  fervent 
prayer,  the  part}^  advanced  to  demand  a  parley.  The 
poor  Manganja,  seeing  them,  shouted  out,  "  Our  Chibisa  is 
come  ;  "  Chibisa  being  well  known  as  a  great  general  and 
conjuror.  The  Ajawa  ran  off  37elling,  "  War,  war !  "  and 
refused  to  listen  to  them  ;  but  rallying,  and  forming  them- 
selves into  a  body,  they  began  to  shoot  at  them  with 
their  poisoned  arrows,  until  the  party  were  reluctantly 
compelled,  in  self-defence,  to  fire  upon  their  assailants, 
who  fled,  shouting  back  that  they  would  follow  and  kill 
them  while  they  slept.  This  was  the  first  occasion  on 
which,  in  all  his  wanderings,  Dr.  Livingstone  had  felt 

18 


206  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

compelled  to  use  force ;  and  it  was  with  sad  hearts  that 
he  and  his  companions  returned  to  the  village  they  had 
left  in  the  morning,  having  failed  in  their  attempt  at  con- 
ciliation, and  having  been  compelled  reluctantly  to  take  a 
step  which  might  subject  them  to  much  blame  and  mis- 
construction at  the  hands  of  lukewarm  friends  and  the 
secret  enemies  of  the  cause  they  had  at  heart. 

As  the  bishop  had  made  up  his  mind  to  settle  among  the 
Manganja,  atMagomero,  he  felt  naturally  indignant  at  the 
idea  of  the  people  in  his  charge  being  swept  away  into 
slavery  in  hordes,  and  proposed  that  they  should  at  once 
follow  the  triumphant  Ajawa,  and  drive  them  out  of  the 
country,  and  liberate  the  captives  that  they  might  have  in 
their  possession.  All  were  in  favor  of  this  course  save-  Dr. 
Livingstone,  who  saw  clearly  what  wTould  be  the  result  if 
a  Christian  missionary  took  such  a  step  as  this  ;  and  he 
cautioned  them  not  in  any  circumstances  to  interfere  by 
force  in  an}7  of  these  wars,  even  although  called  upon  by 
the  Manganja  to  go  to  their  assistance  in  their  extremity. 
It  is  necessary  to  mention  this,  because  many  people 
ignorantly  blamed  Dr.  Livingstone  for  having  given  him 
different  counsel.  The  site  chosen  for  the  mission  settle- 
ment was  on  a  small  promontory,  formed  by  the  windings 
of  the  clear  little  stream  Magomero.  It  was  completely 
surrounded  by  stately  trees.  The  weather  was  delight- 
ful, and  provisions  were  cheap  and  abundant ;  and,  when 
Dr.  Livingstone  and  his  friends  left  them  to  proceed  to 
Lake  Nyassa,  the  bishop  had  commenced  to  learn  the 
languages,  Mr.  Waller  was  bus}r  superintending  the 
building  operations,  and  Mr.  Scudamore  was  getting 
together  the  members  of  an  infant  school.  They  were 
full  of  hope  and  ardor,  and  saw  nothing  before  them  but 
success  in  the  noble  work  they  had  sacrificed  home  and 
comfort  to  accomplish. 


TROUBLES  WITH  THE  NATIVES. 


207 


The  disastrous  end  of  the  mission  may  as  well  be  told 
here.  After  laboring  for  some  time  with  much  accepta 
tion  among  the  neighboring  tribes,  and  being  anxious  to 
discover  a  nearer  route  to  the  Shire,  Messrs.  Proctor  and 
Scudamore,  with  a  number  of  Manganja  carriers,  left  in 
December  to  explore  the  country  for  a  new  route.  Their 
guides  misled  them  ;  and  they  found  themselves  in  a  slave- 
trading  village,  where  the  threatening  aspect  of  the  peo- 
ple bodied  mischief.  Warned  by  a  woman  that  if  they 
slept  there  they  would  be  all  killed,  they  prepared  to 
leave,  when  the  Anguro  followed,  shooting  their  arrows 
at  the  retreating  party.  Two  of  the  carriers  were  taken 
prisoners ;  and  the  two  missionaries,  barely  escaping  with 
their  lives,  swam  a  deep  river,  and  made  their  way  with 
great  difficulty  to  Magomero,  where  they  arrived  ex- 
hausted with  their  exertions. 

The  wives  of  the  two  carriers  pleaded  with  the  bishop, 
that,  as  their  husbands  had  been  made  captive  in  his  ser- 
vice, he  should  rescue  them  from  slavery.  It  appeared  to 
him  to  be  his  duty  to  do  this  ;  and,  on  asking  the  Mako- 
lolo  who  had  remained  with  him  to  assist  in  the  expedi- 
tion, they  joyfully  assented,  as  they  held  the  natives  of 
the  lower  Zambesi  in  utter  contempt,  and  knew  of  no 
better  way  of  settling  a  difference  with  them  than  by  a 
resort  to  force.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  that,  had  the 
bishop  given  them  leave  to  do  as  they  pleased,  they  would 
have  cleared  the  country  of  the  offenders  ;  but  he  re- 
strained them,  which  gave  the  delinquents  an  opportunity 
of  escaping.  The  offending  village  was  burned,  and  a 
few  sheep  and  goats  taken.  The  head  man,  being  afraid 
to  retain  the  captives  any  longer,  liberated  them,  and  they 
returned  to  their  homes.  As  this  expedition  was  under- 
taken during  the  rainy  season,  and  the  missionaries  got 


208  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


frequently  wet,  their  health,  was  seriously  affected.  Mr. 
Scudamore  never  recovered  it,  and  the  bishop  and  Mr. 
Burrup  suffered  from  diarrhoea.  Notwithstanding  the 
state  of  their  health,  the  two  latter  started  for  Chibisa. 
The  rivulets  were  swollen  with  the  rains,  which  made 
their  progress  very  slow.  As  none  of  the  Manganja  men 
would  take  them  down  the  river  during  the  flood,  the 
Makololo  canoe  men  agreed  to  do  so.  The  canoe  was 
upset ;  and  clothes,  provisions,  and  medicines  were  un- 
fortunately lost.  The  bishop  was  seized  with  fever,  and 
was  faithfully  tended  by  the  Makololo  in  a  hut  on  an 
island  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ruo,  from  which  miserable 
shelter  they  saved  him  from  being  ejected  by  the  chief  of 
the  district.  For  three  weeks  they  waited  on  him  with 
the  utmost  attention,  when  he  died;  Mr.  Burrup,  who 
was  ill  of  fever,  staggering  out,  and  repeating  fragments 
of  the  burial-service  over  his  remains,  as  they  laid  them 
in  a  grave  dug  on  the  edge  of  the  forest. 

Taking  Mr.  Burrup  in  a  canoe  as  far  up  the  river  as 
they  could,  the  Makololo  then  formed  a  litter  of  branches, 
and  carried  him  to  Magomero,  where  he  died  shortly  after- 
wards. Mr.  Scudamore  and  Mr.  Dickinson  were  dead ; 
and  all  knowledge  as  to  their  fate  was  in  the  possession 
of  the  faithful  Makololo,  who  had  seen  the  end,  and  in 
the  contents  of  a  paper  written  by  Mr.  Burrup,  and  left, 
along  with  other  papers,  with  the  chief  of  Malo,  to  be 
given  to  the  first  Englishman  who  should  ascend  the  river. 
All  that  now  remains  of  the  mission,  undertaken  and 
entered  upon  with  such  high  hope,  and  carried  on  for  a 
time  with  enthusiastic  zeal  and  success,  is  but  the  mounds 
of  earth  by  the  banks  of  the  Shire,  which  mark  where  the 
bodies  of  its  brave  leaders  sleep  the  last  sleep. 

A  few  weeks  afterwards  Capt.  Wilson,  of  H.  M.  S, 


END  OF  THE  MISSION. 


209 


"  Gorgon,"  together  with  Dr.  Kirk  and' a  large  party,  in- 
cluding Mrs.  Mackenzie  and  Mrs.  Burrup,  went  up  the 
Shire,  to  join  the  mission,  as  they  hoped ;  and,  although 
they  were  close  by  the  grave  of  Bishop  Mackenzie,  they 
could  hear  nothing  from  the  chief  of  Malo  of  the  mission. 
He  was,  in  all  likelihood,  afraid  that  he  might  be  blamed 
for  his  death.  At  Chibisa's,  the  faithful  Makololo  told 
them  the  sad  news  they  had  come  so  far  to  hear.  This 
information  awakened  fresh  anxiety  as  to  the  fate  of  the 
others  ;  so,  leaving  the  ladies  with  Dr.  Ramsay  and  the 
Makololo,  Capt.  Wilson  and  Dr.  Kirk  pushed  up  into 
the  hill  country ,  where  they  met  the  survivors  of  the  mis- 
sion-party at  a  chief's  called  Soche.  Capt.  Wilson  had  a 
severe  attack  of  fever ;  and  the  whole  party  were  so  ex- 
hausted that  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  return  to  the 
boat,  and  sail  sadly  down  the  river  to  "  The  Pioneer." 
On  the  4th  of  April,  "  The  Gorgon"  sailed  for  the  Cape, 
taking  with  her  all  the  surviving  members  of  the  mission 
who  had  only  arrived  in  January,  save  one. 

On  the  6th  of  August,  1861,  Drs.  Livingstone  and 
Kirk,  and  Mr.  Charles  Livingstone,  started  for  Nyassa, 
with  a  light,  four-oared  gig,  and  attended  by  a  white  sailor 
and  a  score  of  natives.  They  found  no  difficulty  in  hiring 
people  to  carry  the  boat  from  village  to  village  ;  and,  as 
they  had  the  means  of  crossing  the  streams  they  met 
with,  were  quite  independent  of  the  humors  of  the  various 
chiefs  and  head  men,  with  whom,  on  a  previous  occasion, 
they  had  to  bargain  for  being  transferred  across  the 
streams.  The  course  of  the  river  was  followed  closely,  so 
as  to  avail  themselves  of  the  still  reaches  between  the 
rapids  for  sailing  ;  and,  when  they  had  passed  the  last  of 
them,  they  launched  their  boat  for  good  on  the  Shire. 
The  upper  portion  of  the  river  is  so  broad  and  deep  that 

18* 


210  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

it  is  roughly  spoken  of  by  the  natives  as  a  portion  of  the 
lake.  At  one  point  in  the  upper  reaches  of  the  river,  Lake 
Shirwa  is  only  a  day's  journey  distant ;  within  a  recent 
period  they  must  have  been  connected.  The  native  land 
party  passed  thousands  of  Manganja  living  in  temporary 
huts,  who  had  been  compelled  to  fly  before  the  blood- 
thirsty Ajawa. 

The  cooler  temperature  on  the  broad  and  deep  waters 
of  the  lake  was  very  enjoyable,  after  the  stifling  heat  on 
the  river,  which  in  its  upper  reaches  is  enclosed  in  an 
almost  impenetrable  belt  of  papyrus  and  other  water- 
plants  ;  but  they  were  very  nearly  shipwrecked  in  a  tre- 
mendous storm  which  burst  upon  them  almost  without 
warning.  "  The  waves  most  dreaded  came  rolling  on 
in  threes,  with  their  crests  driven  into  spray,  stream- 
ing behind  them.  .  .  .  Had  one  of  these  white-maned 
seas  struck  our  frail  bark,  nothing  could  have  saved  us, 
for  they  came  on  with  resistless  fury ;  seaward,  in  shore, 
and  on  either  side  of  us,  they  broke  in  foam.  But  we 
escaped.  .  .  .  We  had  to  beach  the  boat  every  night 
to  save  her  from  being  swamped  at  anchor.  Did  we  not 
believe  the  gales  to  be  peculiar  to  one  season  of  the  year, 
we  would  call  Nyassa  the  Lake  of  Storms. " 

At  no  place  in  Africa  had  Dr.  Livingstone  found  the 
population  so  dense  as  on  the  shores  of  Nyassa.  In 
some  parts  there  was  almost  one  unbroken  succession  of 
villages ;  and  the  inhabitants  lined  the  shores  of  every 
bay,  looking  in  wonder  on  a  boat  being  propelled  by  sails. 
Whenever  they  landed  they  were  the  objects  of  untiring 
curiosity.  The  people  are  industrious  agriculturists  and 
fishers,  and  appeared  to  enjoy  plenty  of  every  thing.  No 
fines  or  dues  were  exacted  from  the  explorers,  nor  pres- 
ents demanded.  The  northern  dwellers  on  the  lake  during 


INSECT-CAKES. 


211 


a  portion  of  the  year  reap  a  singular  harvest.  At  the 
proper  season,  clouds,  as  of  smoke  from  burning  grass, 
hang  over  the  lake  and  the  adjacent  country.  These 
clouds  are  formed  of  countless  myriads  of  minute  midges, 
called  by  the  natives  Jcungo,  which  means  a  cloud  or  fog. 
The  natives  gather  these  insects  by  night,  and  boil  them 
into  thick  cakes,  which  they  eat  as  a  relish  to  their  vege- 
table food.  "  A  kungo  cake,  an  inch  thick,  and  as  large 
as  the  blue  bonnet  of  a  Scotch  ploughman,  was  offered  to 
us ;  it  was  very  dark  in  color,  and  tasted  not  unlike 
caviare,  or  salted  locusts." 

The  lake  swarmed  with  fish,  which  the  native  fishermen 
catch  in  nets  and  basket-traps,  and  with  hook  and  line. 
The  principal  fish,  .called  the  sanjilca,  a  kind  of  carp, 
grows  to  a  length  of  two  feet.  Its  flesh  was  delicious, 
better  than  that  of  any  fish  the  party  had  tasted  in  Africa. 
Fine  watermen  as  the  Makololo  were,  they  frankly  con- 
fessed that  the  lake  fishermen  were  their  superiors  in 
daring  and  skill. 

Their  nets  were  formed  from  the  fibres  of  the  buaye; 
and  their  clothes  were  manufactured  from  cotton  grown 
by  themselves,  or  from  the  fibres  of  the  bark  of  a  tree 
which  is  abundant  in  the  district.  The  fishermen  pre- 
sented the  party  with  fish,  while  the  agricultural  members 
of  the  community  gave  food  freely.  The  chief  of  the 
northern  parts,  a  tall,  handsome  man  named  Marenga, 
gave  them  largely  of  food  and  beer.  "  Do  they  wear 
such  things  in  your  country  ?  "  he  asked,  pointing  to  his 
iron  bracelet,  which  was  studded  with  copper,  and  highly 
prized.  The  doctor  said  he  nad  never  seen  such  in  his 
country ;  whereupon  Marenga  instantly  took  it  off,  and 
presented  it  to  him,  and  his  wife  also  did  the  same  with 
hers.    On  the  return  of  the  party,  he  tried  to  induce  them 


212 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


to  spend  a  day  with  him,  drinking  beer  ;  and  when  they 
declined  he  loaded  them  with  provisions. 

Near  Chilanda,  one  of  the  slave  crossing-places,  the 
white  members  of  the  party  were  robbed,  for  the  first 
time  in  Africa,  while  they  slept :  quantities  of  wearing- 
apparel  and  other  things  being  taken.  On  the  northern 
shore  of  the  lake,  a  tribe  of  Zulus  known  as  Mazitu  had 
settled,  and  were  carrying  on  the  slave-trade  with  terrible 
rigor,  sweeping  away  the  helpless  people  like  sheep. 
They  had  frequently  attacked  Marenga  and  his  people ; 
but  the  thickets  and  stockades  around  their  villages  ena- 
bled the  bowmen  to  pick  off  the  Mazitu  in  security,  and 
they  were  driven  off.  Many  of  the  Mazitu  were  settled 
on  islands  in  the  lake,  from  which  they  emerged  to 
plunder  and  make  captive  the  peaceful  inhaibtants  on 
the  shores  of  the  lake.  Long  tracts  of  country  were 
passed  through  where  "  the  population  had  all  been  swept 
away  ;  ruined  villages,  broken  utensils,  and  human  skele- 
tons, met  with  at' every  turn,  told  a  sad  tale  of  'man's 
inhumanity  to  man.'  The  extent  of  the  trade  done  in 
slaves,  in  the  Nyassa  district,  may  be  gathered  from  the 
fact  that  nineteen  thousand  slaves  alone  pass  through  the 
custom-house  of  the  island  of  Zanzibar  ;  and  those  taken 
out  of  the  country  form  only  a  small  section  of  the  suf- 
ferers, as  many  thousands  more  are  slain  in  the  slave-raids, 
and  die  of  famine  after  having  to  fly  from  their  homes." 
The  exploration  of  the  lake  extended  from  the  2d  of 
September  to  the  27th  of  October,  1861,  and  was  aban- 
doned for  a  time  because  they  had  expended  or  lost  the 
most  of  their  goods.  The  party  frequently  suffered  from 
the  want  of  flesh-meat,  although,  from  the  great  size  of 
the  game,  they  frequently  had  much  more  than  they  could 
use  ;  in  which  case  the  natives  gladly  accepted  the  surplus. 


AN  UNNATURAL  SLAVE-DEALER.  213 


On  one  occasion  they  killed  two  hippopotami  and  an  ele- 
phant, "  perhaps  in  all  some  eight  tons  of  meat ;  and,  two 
days  after,  they  ate  the  last  of  a  few  sardines  for  dinner." 
The  wretched  and  ruined  Manganja,  although  all  their 
sufferings  were  caused  by  the  demand  for  human  flesh, 
sold  each  other  into  slavery  when  they  had  a  chance.  In 
speaking  of  a  native  of  this  tribe,  who  sold  a  boy  he  had 
made  captive  in  a  hostile  raid,  Dr.  Livingstone  speaks  of 
"having  seen  a  man  who  was  reputed  humane,  and  in 
whose  veins  no  black  blood  flowed,  parting,  for  the  sum  of 
four  pounds,  with  a  good-looking  girl,  who  stood  in  a 
closer  relationship  to  him,  than  the  boy  to  the  man  who 
excited  our  ire ;  and,  she  being  the  nurse  of  his  son  be- 
sides, both  son  and  nurse  made  such  a  pitiable  wail  for 
an  entire  day,  that  even  the  half-caste  wTho  had  bought  her 
relented,  and  offered  to  return  her  to  the  white  man,  but 
in  vain."  It  is  so  long  since  our  government  washed  its 
hands,  at  an  immense  cost,  of  this  iniquitous  traffic,  and 
it  expends  so  much  annually  to  put  it  down  on  the  coast 
of  Africa,  that  the  knowledge  that  such  things  can*  be 
done  by  civilized  men  comes  with  a  shock  upon  us.  Surely 
the  wonderful  trials  Dr.  Livingstone  has  come  through,  in 
his  campaigns  against  this  detestable  traffic,  will  not  have 
been  suffered  in  vain  ~,  nnd  the  knowledge  of  such  crimes 
against  humanity  will  be  the  prelude  to  their  extinction. 

Arriving  at  the  village  at  the  foot  of  the  cataracts,  the 
party  found  it  in  a  much  more  flourishing  condition  than 
when  they  passed  up.  A  number  of  large  huts  had  been 
built,  and  the  people  had  a  plentiful  stock  of  cloth  and 
beads.  The  sight  of  several  fine  large  canoes,  instead  of 
the  old  leaky  ones  wrhich  lay  there  before,  explained  the 
mystery :  the  place  had  become  a  crossing-place  for  the 
slaves  on  their  way  to  Tete.    Well  might  the  indignant 


214  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


members  of  the  expedition  say  that  "  nothing  was  more 
disheartening  than  the  conduct  of  the  Manganja,  in  prof- 
iting by  the  entire  breaking-up  of  their  nation." 

The  party  reached  the  ship  on  the  8th  of  November ; 
and  on  the  14th  Bishop  Mackenzie  and  Mr.  Burrup,  who 
had  only  just  joined  him,  visited  them.  As  they  started 
on  their  downward  voyage,  they  "gave  and  received  three 
hearty  English  cheers,  as  they  went  to  the  shore  ;  and  we 
steamed  off."  This  was  the  last  they  saw  of  these  de- 
voted men,  as  they  soon  after  perished  in  the  manner 
already  related.  The  ship  having  run  aground  about 
twenty  miles  below  Chibisa's,  they  wTere  detained  five 
weeks,  until  the  river  rose  sufficiently  to  float  her  off;  and 
during  their  detention  the  carpenter's  mate,  a  fine,  healthy 
young  Englishman,  died  of  fever ;  being  the  first  death  of 
a  member  of  the  expedition,  although  they  had  been  three 
years  and  a  half  in  the  country. 

At  Mboma's  village,  they  heard  that  the  notorious 
Mariano  had  been  allowed  to  leave  Mozambique  in  order 
to  collect  a  heavy  fine  which  had  been  imposed  upon  him 
after  trial,  for  his  crimes.  He  had  immediately  taken  to 
his  old  trade,  slaveiy,  and  had  depopulated  a  large  tract 
of  country  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river.  While  express- 
ing indignation  at  his  conduct,  and  sending  an  expedition 
against  him,  which  he  defeated,  the  leader  of  it  being  sent 
back  loaded  with  presents,  the  party  had  no  doubt  that 
the  Portuguese  officials  at  Mozambique  were  quite  aware 
of  his  intentions  before  he  started,  and  were,  in  all  likeli- 
hood, sharing  in  his  ill-gotten  gains. 

Sailing  down  the  Zambesi,  they  anchored  in  the  Great 
Luabo  mouth  of  the  Zambesi ;  and,  on  the  30th  of  Decem- 
ber, H.  M.  S.  "  Gorgon"  arrived,  towing  the  brig  which 
brought  Mrs.  Livingstone,  Miss  Mackenzie,  and  Mrs. 


DEATH  OF  MRS.  LIVINGSTONE.  215 


Burrup.  The  former  had  come  out  to  join  her  husband  ; 
while  the  latter  were  on  their  way  to  join  their  friends  at 
Magomero,  where  they  arrived,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
too  lato  to  see  their  friends  alive. 

The  progress  of  "  The  Pioneer,"  with  the  party,  and  a 
portion  of  the  sections  of  u  The  Lady  Nyassa,"  a  vessel 
which  Livingstone  had  had  specially  built  for  river-naviga- 
tion, in  pieces  of  a  size  which  one  man  could  carry  on 
board,  was  so  distressingly  slow,  >n  consequence  of  the 
machinery  having  been  allowed  to  get  out  of  order,  that 
Livingstone  and  his  friends  determined  to  land,  and  put 
the  pieces  of  "The  Lady  Nyassa"  together  at  Shupanga, 
while  Capt.  Wilson,  Dr.  Kirk,  and  Dr.  Ramsay,  and  Mr. 
Sewell  of  "  The  Gorgon,"  and  the  mission-party,  went  for- 
ward in  the  gig  of  that  ship. 

During  the  unhealthy  season,  several  of  Dr.  Living- 
stone's party  suffered  from  fever  ;  and,  about  the  middle  of 
April,  Mrs.  Livingstone  was  prostrated  by  that  disease  ; 
and,  notwithstanding  that  she  received  every  attention 
which  affection  and  skill  could  render,  she  died  on  the 
27th  of  that  month,  and  was  buried  on  the  following  day, 
under  the  shadow  of  a  giant  baobab-tree  ;  the  Rev.  James 
Stewart,  who  had  shortly  before  come  out  to  inquire  into 
the  practicability  of  establishing  a  mission  in  connection 
with  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  reading  the  burial-ser- 
vice. The  gallant  seamen  of  u  The  Gorgon"  mounted 
guard  for  several  nights  over  her  last  resting-place.  It  is 
impossible  not  to  sympathize  with  the  stricken  husband, 
who  thus  lost  the  wife  of  his  early  years,  who  had  shared 
in  so  many  of  his  trials  and  difficulties,  just  when  he  was 
re-united  to  her  after  a  separation  of  nearly  four  years. 
Beloved  and  revered  as  she  was  by  white  men  as  well  as 
by  black,  the  party  who  stood  under  the  wide-spreading 


216  .         LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

branches  of  the  baobab-tree  must  have  been  a  sad  and 
melancholy  one.  One  comforting  reflection  there  was,  — 
she  died  among  dear  and  loving  friends,  and  not  alone 
among  savages,  like  Bishop  Mackenzie  and  Mr.  Burrup, 
whose  death  was  so  soon  to  overwhelm  with  grief  two  com- 
panions of  her  voyage  out,  who  little  dreamed,  when  they 
sorrowed  for  her,  that  the  dear  ones  they  had  come  so  far 
to  see  had  already  been  consigned  to  the  grave  by  savage, 
although  friendly  hands. 

When  ' '  The  Lady  Nyassa  "  was  put  together  at  Shupan- 
ga,  she  was  launched  in  the  presence  of  a  large  assemblage 
of  natives,  who  had  come  from  far  and  near  to  witness  it. 
The}T  could  not  believe,  that,  being  of  iron,  she  would  float ; 
and  their  astonishment  was  great  when  they  saw  her  glide 
lightly  and  gracefully  in  the  water.  The  figure-head, 
which  was  the  head  and  bust  of  a  female,  was  pointed  to 
as  a  wonderful  work  of  art.  As  it  was  now  well  on  in 
June,  and  the  river  was  at  its  lowest,  it  would  be  impossi- 
ble to  sail  up  the  river  until  December.  The  party  pro- 
ceeded in  "  The  Pioneer  "  to  Johanna,  to  obtain  a  supply 
of  provisions  and  other  requisites,  and  some  draught  oxen 
to  cany  the  sections  of  "  The  Lady  Nyassa "  past  the 
Murchison  Cataracts.  Mr.  Lumley,  H.  M.  Consul,  for- 
warded their  views  in  every  way,  and  gave  them  six  of  his 
own  trained  oxen,  used  in  his  sugar-plantation. 

In  the  interval  which  must  elapse  before  they  could  sail 
up  the  Shire,  the  principal  members  of  the '  expedition, 
with  a  number  of  native  assistants,  proceeded  to  explore 
the  Rovuma,  as  Dr.  Livingstone  was  not  without  hopes 
that  a  better  way  to  Lake  Nyassa  might  be  found  by  as- 
cending this  river ;  but  their  hopes  were  doomed  to  disap- 
pointment. The  Rovuma  was  found  to  contain  a  much 
smaller  volume  of  water  than  many  of  the  tributaries  of 


ATTACKED  BY  NATIVES. 


217 


the  Zambesi.  Shallows  were  numerous  ;  and  snags,  formed 
by  the  sinking  of  large  trees  in  the  mud  during  the  sub- 
sidence of  the  floods,  rendered  the  navigation  difficult  even 
for  the  boats  of  H.  M.  S.  "  Orestes,"  which  had  been  lent 
to  the  party  for  the  ascent.  Ninety  miles  from  the  mouth, 
their  farther  progress  was  arrested  by  a  series  of  cataracts  ; 
and  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  return  to  Johanna, 
and  proceed  to  Lake  Nyassa  by  the  valley  of  the  Shire. 

The  lower  part  of  the  Rovuma  valley  was  found  to  be 
very  sparsely  populated,  and  of  no  great  breadth,  the  hills 
lying  close  to  the  river  on* either  side.  Sixty-five  miles  up 
the  stream  they  arrived  at  an  inhabited  island  ;  and  after 
some  difficulty  they  managed  to  open  friendly  relations, 
and  purchased  food  from  the  natives.  Here  not  only  the 
females,  but  many  of  the  young  men,  wore  the  pelele,  or 
lip-ring.  Farther  up  the  stream,  at  the  temporary  village 
of  an  armed  band  of  slave-traders,  an  attempt  was  made 
to  arrest  their  farther  progress  unless  a  toll  was  paid. 
Rather  than- proceed  to  extremities,  Dr.  Livingstone  gave 
them  thirty  pieces  of  calico,  which  so  excited  their  cu- 
pidity that  they  fired  a  volley  of  musketry  and  poisoned 
arrows  at  the  party,  fortunately  without  effect.  A  few 
shots  fired  at  them  drove  these  bloodthirsty  cowards  into 
the  forest,  and  secured  the  party  from  any  further  attack. 

The  people  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  cataracts  were 
found  to  be  peaceful  and  industrious,  and  friendly  in 
their  disposition.  They  are  called  Makoa,  and  are 
known  by  a  cicatrice  on  the  brow,  in  the  form  of  a  cres- 
cent, with  the  horns  pointing  downwards.  The  hills  on 
either  side  were  lofty,  and  seemed  to  be  outlying  spurs  of 
a  wide  range  on  either  side.  Coal  was  found  in  such 
circumstances  as  warranted  the  party  in  believing  that  it 
existed  in  abundance  in  the  valleys. 

19 


CHAPTER  Xm. 


DREADFUL  RESULTS  OF  A  SLAVE-RAID.  DR.  LIVINGSTONS 

RECALLED.  JOURNEY  OF  EXPLORATION    BEYOND  LAKE 

NYASSA.  —  STARTS  FOR  HOME.   ARRIVAL  IN  ENGLAND. 

In  January,  1863,  "The  Pioneer"  steamed  up  the 
Shire,  with  "  The  Lady  IsTyassa"  in  tow  ;  and  she  had 
not  breasted  its  waters  for  many  hours  before  the  party 
came  upon  traces  of  the  wholesale  ravages  of  the  noto- 
rious and  bloodthirsty  Mariano.  A  little  more  than 
twelve  months  before,  the  valley  of  the  Shire  was  popu- 
lous with  peaceful  and  contented  tribes :  now  the  coun- 
try was  all  but  a  desert,  the  very  air  polluted  by  the 
putrid  carcasses  of  the  slain,  which  lay  rotting  on  the 
plains,  and  floated  in  the  waters  of  the  river  in '  such 
numbers  as  to  clog  the  paddles  of  the  steamer.  Once 
they  saw  a  crocodile  make  a  rush  at  the  carcass  of  a  boy, 
and  shake  it  as  a  terrier-dog  shakes  a  rat,  while  others 
rushed  to  share  in  the  meal,  and  quickly  devoured  it. 
The  miserable  inhabitants  who  had  managed  to  avoid 
being  slain,  or  carried  off  into  captivity,  were  collecting 
insects,  fruits,  and  wild  fruits,  —  any  thing,  in  short,  that 
would  stave  off  starvation,  —  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
villages  where  they  had  formerly  enjoyed  peace  and 
plenty.  They  were  entirely  naked,  save  for  the  palm- 
leaf  aprons  they  wore,  as  every  thing  of  any  value  had 
been  carried  off  by  the  slave-stealers.  The  sight  of  hun- 
dreds of  putrid  dead  bodies  and  bleached  skeletons  wa? 

218 


RESULTS  OF  A  SLAVE-RAID. 


219 


not  half  so  painful  as  the  groups  of  children  and  women 
who  were  seen  sitting  amidst  the  ruins  of  their  former 
dwellings,  with  their  ghastly,  famine- stricken  faces,  and 
dull,  dead  eyes.  These  made  up  such  a  tale  of  woe 
and  misery,  that  those  who  were  dead  might  be  deemed 
fortunate  in  comparison  with  the  survivors,  who  instinct- 
ively clung  to  the  devastated  spot  they  had  once  called 
home,  and  those  who  had  been  led  into  lifelong  captivity. 
Everywhere  dead  bodies  were  met  with ;  in  the  huts, 
when  opened,  the  mouldering  corpse  was  found  "  with  the 
poor  rags  round  the  loins,  the  skull  fallen  off  the  pillow  ; 
the  little  skeleton  of  the  child,  that  had  perished  first, 
rolled  up  in  a  mat  between  two  large  skeletons." 

Mr.  Thornton  rejoined  the  party  on  the  Shire,  bringing 
with  him  supplies  for  the  mission  and  the  expedition 
party,  after  successfully  assisting  Baron  Vanderdecken  in 
a  survey  of  the  Kilimandjaro  Mountains,  and  the  ascent 
of  the  highest  member  of  the  range  to  a  height  of  fourteen 
thousand  feet,  discovering,  at  the  same  time,  that  the 
height  above  the  level  of  the  sea  of  the  highest  peak  was 
twenty  thousand  feet.  These  mountains  above  eight  thou- 
sand feet  are  covered  with  perpetual  snow.  The  present 
mission  was  to  examine  the  geology  of  the  district  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  cataracts ;  but,  before  he  had  well 
begun  his  arduous  labors,  he  was  attacked  with  fever,  and 
died  on  the  21st  of  April. 

While  busily  making  a  road  through  the  forest  to  con- 
nect the  Lower  Shire  with  the  Upper,  beyond  the  Mur- 
chison  Cataracts,  Dr.  Kirk  and  Mr.  Charles  Livingstone, 
after  repeated  attacks  of  fever  and  dj^sentery,  were  com- 
pelled to  leave  for  England ;  the  undaunted  chief  of  the 
expedition  remaining  at  his  post,  although  he  had  had  a 
severe  attack  of  fever.    Before  they  had  completed  theil 


220  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D> 


arrangements  for  passing  the  cataracts,  a  despatch  arrived 
from  Lord  John  Russell,  then  minister  for  foreign  affairs, 
withdrawing  the  expedition.  As  the  descent  of  the  river 
could  not  be  made  for  some  time,  Dr.  Livingstone  deter- 
mined on  a  journey  to  the  neighborhood  of  Lake  Nyassa  ; 
selecting  five  of  the  Makololo  men,  who  had  settled  near 
Chibisa's,  and  several  of  the  Johanna  men  and  natives  on 
the  spot,  making,  in  all,  twenty  native  assistants,  to  accom- 
pany him.  In  attempting  to  ascend  the  cataracts  in 
boats,  one  of  these,  with  valuable  stores  in  it,  was  lost 
through  the  fpolhardiness  of  several  Zambesi  men,  who 
were  desirous  of  showing  that  they  could  manage  her 
better  than  the  Makololo. 

As  a  punishment,  the  Zambesi  men  were  sent  back  to 
Chibisa's  for  provisions,  cloth,  and  beads,  Dr.  Living- 
stone determining  to  go  on,  on  foot.  The  bold  explorer 
managed  to  penetrate,  through  a  hitherto  unvisited  coun- 
try,  to  a  point  a  hundred  miles  to  the  west  of  the  lake. 
At  the  different  villages  he  was  well  received,  after  his 
intentions  were  made  known.  In  many  places  he  found 
evidence  of  the  ravages  of  the  Ajawa  ;  and  the  inhabitants 
were  in  daily  dread  of  a  slave-stealing  raid  being  made 
upon  them,  and  naturally  looked  with  suspicion  on  an 
armed  party,  headed  by  a  white  man.  The  "country  was 
very  populous,  and  exceedingly  beautiful,  showing  every 
variety  of  scenery  to  be  found  between  the  level  plain  and 
the  summits  of  the  mountain  ridges,  at  a  height  of  from 
three  to  four  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

The  part}'  were  the  recipients  of  much  kind  attention 
from  the  great  bulk  of  the  simple  inhabitants  of  the  dis- 
trict through  which  the}'  passed  ;  and  again  and  again 
Dr.  Livingstone  had  proofs,  both  of  eye  and  ear,  that  the 
native  tribes  in  the  interior,  who  have  not  suffered  from 


CORN-GRINDING. 


221 


the  introduction  of  the  slave-trade,  lead  comparatively 
blameless  and  industrious  lives.  It  was  a  refreshing 
sight  to  see  men,  women,  and  children  preparing  the 
ground  for  their  crops,  or  clearing  the  latter  of  weeds, 
which  were  carefully  gathered  and  burned,  as  in  highly 
farmed  England  ;  or  grinding  their  corn  in  the  stone  mill, 
which  consists,  all  over  the  districts  he  had  visited,  "  of  a 
block  of  granite,  or  even  mica  schist,  fifteen  or  eighteen 
inches  square,  and  four  or  six  thick,  with  a  piece  t>f 
quartz,  or  other  hard  rock,  about  the  size  of  half  a  brick, 
one  side  of  which  has  a  coarse  surface,  and  fits  into  a 
concave  hollow  in  the  larger  and  stationary  stone.  The 
workwoman,  kneeling,  grasps  this  upper  millstone  with 
both  hands,  and  works  it  backwards  and  forwards  in  the 
hollow  of  the  lower  millstone,  in  the  same  wa}7  that  a 
baker  works  his  dough,  when  pressing  it,  and  pushing  it 
from  him.  The  weight  of  the  person  is  brought  to  bear 
on  the  movable  stone  ;  and,  while  it  is  pressed  and  pushed 
forwards  and  backwards,  one  hand  supplies,  every  now  and 
then,  a  little  grain,  to  be  thus  at  first  bruised,  and  then 
ground  in  the  lower  stone,  which  is  placed  on  the  slope, 
so  that  the  meal,  when  ground,  falls  on  to  a  skin  or  mat 
spread  for  the  purpose." 

Before  being  ground,  the  corn  is  pounded  in  a  large 
wooden  mortar,  exactly  similar  to  that  used  by  the  ancient 
Egyptians.  The  pestle  is  about  six  feet  long,  and  four 
inches  in  thickness.  By  this  process  the  husk  is  removed 
from,  the  grain ;  and,  that  it  is  a  tedious  process,  we  have 
the  authority  of  Solomon,  who  thought  that  it  took  more 
vigor  and  trouble  to  separate  "  a  fool  from  his  folly,"  than 
to  remove  the  hard  husk  from  the  wheat. 

' '  A  chief  named  Muazi  presented  Livingstone  with  a 
basket  of  unground  corn  ;  and,  on  his  hinting  that  he  had 

19* 


222  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE  LL.D. 

no  wife  to  grind  it  for  him,  the  chief's  buxom  spouse 
archly  said,  '  I  will  grind  it  for  you,  and  leave  Muazi,  to 
accompany  and  cook  for  you  in  the  land  of  the  setting 
sun.,,, 

Everywhere  he  was  struck  with  little  touches  of  human 
nature,  which  told  him  that  blacks  and  whites,  in  their 
natural  ways,  were  very  much  the  same.  Sleeping  out- 
Side  a  hut,  but  near  enough  to  hear  what  passed  in  the 
interior  of  it,  he  heard  a  native  woman  commence  to  grind 
in  the  dark,  about  two  o'clock  in  the  morning.  "  Ma," 
said  her  little  daughter,  "  why  grind  in  the  dark?"  After 
telling  her  to  go  to  sleep,  she  said,  "  I  grind  meal  to  buy 
a  cloth  from  the  strangers,  which  will  make  you  a  little 
lady."  And,  no  doubt,  the  little  child  went  to  sleep  quite 
contented,  just  as  an  English  girl  would  under  like  cir- 
cumstances. 

Their  greatest  luxury  was  beer,  of  which  they  drank 
considerable  quantities,  generally  in  a  hospitable  kind 
of  way,  inviting  their  neighbors  to  share  in  the  jollifica- 
tion. Under  such  circumstances,  they  politely  praise  the 
quality  of  the  liquor  provided ;  a  common  saying  being, 
that  it  was  so  good,  "  the  taste  reaches  right  to  the  back 
of  the  neck." 

The  merchants  or  traders  of  the  district  are  the  Babisa. 
They  are  distinguished  by  a  line  of  horizontal  cicatrices 
down  the  middle  of  the  forehead  and  chin.  They  collect 
the  ivory  from  the  Manganja  and  the  Ajawa,  and  carry  it 
to  the  coast,  and  sell  it,  bringing  back  European  manu- 
factures, beads,  &c,  in  return  for  it,  and  deal  in  tobacco, 
and  native  iron  utensils.  Some  of  the  natives  to  the  west 
of  the  lake  were  very  tall  and  strong  ;  many  of  them  were 
a  good  way  over  six  feet  in  height,  and  six  feet  was  com- 
mon.   On  reaching  Lake  Nyassa  on  their  return  journey, 


AUGHT  IN  THE  RAINS. 


223 


the}7  found  many  of  the  inhabitants  living  in  hiding 
among  the  reeds  by  the  margin  of  the  lake ;  temporary 
huts  being  erected  on  the  flattened  reeds,  which  were  so 
thick  and  strong  as  to  form  a  perfect  though  yielding 
floor  on  the  surface  of  the  lake.  They  had  a  miserable, 
half-starved  appearance,  agriculture  being  out  of  the 
question  while  they  were  living  in  constant  terror  of  a 
visit  from  slave-trading  bands.  No  one  would  yell  any 
food,  unless  in  exchange  for  some  other  article  of  food, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  they  were  starving,  many  of 
them  dying  from  sheer  want. 

Before  the  party  got  back  to  the  ship,  they  were  caught 
m  the  rains.  Sometimes  it  came  on  at  night,  with  unpleas- 
ant results,  when  the  party  were  asleep  with  no  shelter 
but  the  umbrageous  foliage  of  some  giant  tree.  Living- 
stone says,  "  When  very  tired,  a  man  feels  determined  to 
sleep  in  spite  of  every  thing ;  and  the  sound  of  dripping 
water  is  said  to  be  conducive  to  slumber,  but  that  does  not 
refer  to  an  African  storm.  If,  when  half-asleep  in  spite 
of  a  heavy  shower  on  the  back  of  the  head,  he  uncon- 
sciously turns  on  his  side,  the  drops  from  the  branches 
make  such  capital  shots  into  the  ear,  that  the  brain  rings 
again."  Curiously  enough,  the  keen,  bracing  air  of  the 
highlands  had  a  deleterious  effect  on  the  Zambesi. 

The  party  reached  the  ship  early  in  November,  and 
found  those  they  had  left  there  in  good  health.  The 
exploring  party  had  travelled  eight  hundred  miles  in  a 
straight  line,  which  gave  a  mileage  of  twelve  and  a  half 
per  day ;  but,  taking  the  windings  into  account,  Living- 
stone put  their  rate  of  advance  down  at  fifteen  miles,  a 
wonderful  progress,  truly,  in  an  unknown  country.  An 
Ajawa  chief  named  Kapeni  waited  upon  them,  and  grati- 
fied Livingstone  by  saying  that  he  and  most  of  his  people 


224  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


were  anxious  to  receive  English  missionaries  as  iheii 
teachers.  The  effect  of  this  was  marred  by  intelligence, 
which  reached  him  shortly  afterwards,  that  Bishop  Tozer, 
Bishop  Mackenzie's  successor,  after  a  short  stay  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Shire,  on  the  top  of  Mount  Morambala,  had 
determined  to  leave  the  country.  In  descending  the 
river,  they  heard  that  Mariano,  the  infamous  slave- 
stealing  half-caste,  had  died  of  debauchery  some  time 
previous. 

A  number  of  natives,  old  and  young,  who  had  been 
attached  to  Bishop  Mackenzie,  some  of  whom  had  also 
been  with  his  successor,  pleaded  to  be  taken  with  the 
party.  Livingstone  took  them  on  board,  and  got  them, 
with  the  exception  of  seven  men  and  ten  boys  whom  he 
kept  with  him  on  board  "The  Lady  Nyassa,"  a  passage 
to  the  Cape  on  board  H.  M.  S.  "  Orestes."  H.  M.  S. 
"Ariel"  towed  "The  Lady  Nyassa,"  with  Livingstone 
and  his  party  on  board,  to  Mozambique,  during  a  dread- 
ful storm,  which  knocked  the  little  vessel  about  in  such 
a  way,  that  it  was  a  miracle  she  was  not  lost  with  all  on 
board. 

"The  Lady  Nyassa"  steamed  from  Mozambique  to 
Zanzibar ;  and,  as  Livingstone  had  determined  to  dispose 
of  her,  he  started  in  her  on  a  voyage  of  twenty-five  hun- 
dred miles  for  that  purpose  to  Bombay,  which  he  accom- 
plished in  safety,  arriving  there  on  the  13th  of  June, 
having  left  Zanzibar  on  the  16th  of  April,  the  heroic 
explorer  acting  as  navigator ;  his  crew  consisting  of  three 
Europeans,  — viz.,  a  stoker,  a  sailor,  and  a  carpenter, — 
and  seven  native  Zambesi  men,  and  two  boys.  Considering 
that  the  three  European  members  of  his  crew  were  laid 
aside  for  a  month  each,  and  his  native  Zambesi  men  had 
to  be  taught  the  duties  of  the  ship,  and  "  The  Lady  Ny 


ARRIVAL  IN  ENGLAND. 


225 


assa"  was  a  tiny,  light  craft,  constructed  for  lake  and 
river  navigation,  the  feat  of  sailing  her  across  the  Indian 
Ocean  was  not  the  least  marvellous  of  the  many  daring 
undertakings  he  has  successfully  carried  through.  When 
they  steamed  into  the  harbor  of  Bombay,  he  says,  "  The 
vessel  was  so  small,  that  no  one  noticed  our  arrival."  His 
appearance  in  civilized  society,  after  such  a  fashion,  must 
have  been  as  unexpected  and  wonderful  as  his  turning  up 
among  the  Portuguese  in  the  West,  after  travelling  from 
the  Cape  right  across  country  through  regions  till  then 
wholly  unknown.  The  two  native  bo}Ts,  who  were  about 
sixteen  years  of  age,  named  respectively  Wakotani  and 
Chuma,  were  left  with  Dr.  Wilson  of  Bombay,  to  be  edu- 
cated. 

Dr.  Livingstone  arrived  in  England  in  the  year  1864, 
and  busied  himself  with  the  preparation  of  his  narrative 
for  the  press,  and  thinking  over  further  efforts  to  be  made 
for  the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the  natives  of  Cen- 
tral Africa.  It  was  quite  clear  to  him  that  no  help  in  this 
direction  must  be  looked  for  from  the  Portuguese  govern- 
ment, which,  in  spite  of  the  utter  valuelessness  of  their 
possessions  on  the  east  coast  of  Africa,  seemed  to  wink 
at  the  devastation  and  depopulation  of  the  country  by 
slave-dealers,  and  threw  eveiy  obstacle  in  the  way  of  any 
one  anxious  to  acquire  information  regarding  the  tribes 
bordering  on  their  territory,  and  the  introduction  of  legit- 
imate commerce  amongst  them.  The  horrors  Dr.  Living- 
stone had  to  make  us  acquainted  with  then,  and  those 
which,  though  dead,  he  is  still  telling  us,  after  having 
been  lost  to  his  country  and  friends  for  years,  cannot  fail 
to  raise  such  a  storm  of  indignation  throughout  the  civil- 
ized world,  as  will  hasten  the  end  of  the  frightful  traffic 
in  human  beings  which  is  carried  on  under  the  protection 
of  the  Portuguese  flag. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


STARTS  A  THIBD  TIME  FOR  AFRICA.  HIS  REPORTED  MUR- 
DER.  EXPEDITION  SENT  IN  SEARCH  OF  HIM.  LETTERS 

FROM   HIMSELF.  AGAIN    LOST   TO    VIEW.  MR.   H.  M. 

STANLEY  FINDS  HIM  AT  UJUI. 

When  Dr.  Livingstone  arrived  in  England,  the  discov- 
eries of  Capt.  Speke  and  Major  Grant  were  the  subject 
of  almost  universal  interest  among  the  intelligent  public  ; 
and  he  had  not  been  long  amongst  us,  when  the  enthu- 
siasm those  had  excited,  and  the  cravings  for  further 
knowledge  of  the  regions  about  the  head  waters  of  the 
Nile,  were  further  indulged  by  the  discoveries  of  Sir 
Samuel  Baker.  Lakes,  hill  ranges,  and  populous  native 
settlements,  were  slowly  filling  up  the  great  blank  patch 
in  the  centre  of  the  vast  continent  of  Africa,  which  for 
centuries  had  been  assumed  to  be  a  vast  sandy  desert,  a 
second  and  greater  Sahara.  From  the  known  regions  of 
Southern  Africa,  Livingstone  had,  in  his  several  expedi- 
tions from  1852,  when  he  marched  across  the  Kalahari 
desert,  and  discovered  Lake  Ngami,  down  to  his  leaving 
the  Zambesi  on  the  conclusion  of  his  last  series  of  ex- 
plorations, laid  down  rivers,  lakes,  mountain  ranges,  and 
native  settlements,  over  a  tract  of  country  vastly  more 
extensive  than  was  ever  explored  hy  a  single  individual, 
in  the  history  of  discovery  and  adventure.  His  discov- 
eries in  the  South,  and  those  of  his  contemporary  ex- 
plorers farther  to  the  North,  had  settled  the  fact  beyond 

226 


INTEREST  IN  AFRICAN  EXPLORATIONS. 


227 


dispute,  that  the  centre  of  Africa  was  peopled  by  tribes 
mentally  and  industrially  capable  of  elevation,  if  the 
iniquitous  slave-trade  was  suppressed,  and  legitimate 
commerce  with  civilized  nations  introduced  amongst 
them ;  and  that  they  inhabited  regions  rich  in  vegetable 
and  animal  life,  and  watered  by  magnificent  rivers  and 
streams ;  which  filled  the  minds  of  thoughtful  men  with 
the  hope  of  seeing  opened,  within  a  reasonable  time,  new 
corn,  cattle,  cotton,  coffee,  sugar,  indigo,  coal,  and  iron 
producing  regions  of  so  vast  an  extent,  as  to  render  the 
European  continent  independent,  in  the  future,  of  the  ex- 
haustion of  her  present  stores,  through  the  demands  of  a 
population  daily  increasing  in  numbers  and  in  wealth. 

Between  Speke  and  Grant's  and  Baker's  discoveries,  aud 
Livingstone's  in  the  south,  there  was  still  a  vast  tract  of 
country  of  which  little  or  nothing  reliable  was  known. 
Farther  investigation,  and  a  due  consideration  of  the 
character  of  the  newly-explored  regions,  led  thinking 
men  to  doubt  and  question  the  fact  that  Capt.  Speke 
had  traced  the  Nile  to  its  headquarters,  when  he  watched 
it  flow,  a  noble  stream,  from  the  Victoria  Nyanza  Lake. 
These  doubts  and  questions  soon  resolved  themselves  into 
actual  belief  that  the  head  waters  of  the  river  of  Egypt 
must  be  carried  as  far  south  as  Lake  Tanganyika,  and 
farther  south,  as  some  thought. 

Livingstone  having  a  strong  opinion  that  such  was  the 
«tase,  and  that  the  northern  and  western  watersheds  were 
not  far  removed  from  the  point  to  which  he  had  pene- 
trated to  the  west  of  Lake  Nyassa  immediately  before 
his  return,  was  not  the  sort  of  man  to  leave  this  question, 
for  long,  a  mere  matter  of  opinion  or  probability.  Early 
in  1865,  after  he  had  recruited  his  health,  and  superin- 
tended the  publication  of  his  explorations  on  the  Zambesi , 


228  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


the  Shire,  and  the  Rovuma,  and  Lake  Xyassa,  lie  began 
to  make  preparations  for  a  new  expedition,  which  should 
push  its  way  into  the  interior  of  the  country  by  the  Ro- 
vuma, and  thence  northwards,  as  his  experience  should 
direct. 

The  council  of  the  Eoyal  Geographical  Society  seconded 
his  aspirations,  engaging  him  to  undertake  a  fresh  expedi- 
tion to  solve  the  problem  of  the  direction  taken  by  the 
outflow  from  Lake  Tanganyika,  and  the  country  between 
it  and  Lake  Nyassa.  Earl  Russell  happily  connected  it 
with  the  public  interest,  by  renewing  his  appointment  as 
H.  jVL  Consul  to  the  tribes  in  the  interior ;  and  Mr. 
Young,  one  of  his  oldest  friends,  advanced  a  thousand 
pounds  in  furtherance  of  the  objects  of  the  expedition. 

On  the  14th  of  August  Dr.  Livingstone  left  England 
to  carry  out  this  programme,  proceeding  direct  for  Bom- 
bay, where  he  had  left  "  The  Lady  Nyassa,"  seven  Zam- 
besi men.  and  the  two  boys  who  had  been  connected  with 
the  Oxford  and  Cambridge  mission  on  the  Shire  ;  the 
latter  having  been  left  in  the  interval  in  the  charge,  for 
educational  purposes,  of  Dr.  Wilson,  the  well-known 
missionary.  He  was  pleased  to  find  that  they  had  con- 
ducted themselves  well,  and  could  both  read  and  write, 
and  that  they  were  anxious  to  be  baptized  into  the  Eng- 
lish Church,  which  was  done  before  their  departure  with 
him  on  his  new  expedition.  In  addition  to  these  faithful 
and  tried  followers,  a  native  havildar,  several  sepoys,  and 
several  Suahili  lads  from  the  Xassick  School,  Bombay,  and 
a  number  of  men  from  the  island  of  Johanna,  were  enlisted 
Its  assistants.  These  latter  were  headed  by  a  man  named 
Moosa,  whose  name  became  painfully  familiar  throughout 
the  world,  as  we  shall  see  farther  on.  Thus  accompanied, 
Dr.  Livingstone  sailed  from  Zanzibar  for  the  Rovuma, 


REPORT  OF  HIS  DEATH. 


229 


on  the  28th  of  March,  1866.  A  letter  to  his  friends, 
written  when  about  to  start  from  the  coast,  and  a  de- 
spatch, dated  18th  May,  sent  to  Zanzibar  for  the  English 
government  from  Ngomano,  which  stated  that  he  tl^n 
stood  on  the  threshold  of  the  unexplored,  comprehended 
all  that  was  known  of  his  movements,  until  Moosa  and 
the  other  Johanna  men  returned,  bringing  a  circumstan- 
tial report  that  he  had  been  slain  in  an  encounter  with  a 
band  of  natives  (Mafite)  and  Zulus.  According  to  their 
account,  the  party  had  left  Kampoonda,  on  the  shore  of 
Lake  Nyassa,  and  had  travelled  five  days.  The  Johanna 
men,  with  the  exception  of  Moosa  (it  was  necessary  one, 
at  least,  should  be  near  to  give  credibility  to  the  story) , 
were  at  a  considerable  distance  behind,  carrying  the 
Joads.  The  party  was  weakened  by  the  dismissal  of  the 
sepoys,  and  the  desertion  of  several  of  his  attendants. 
The  following  is  from  the  despatch  sent  by  the  British 
resident  at  Zanzibar  :  — 

"Livingstone,  as  usual,  led  the  way,  his  nine  or  ten 
unpractised  musketeers  at  his  heels.  Ali  Moosa  had 
nearly  come  up  with  them,  having  left  his  own  Johanna 
men  resting  with  their  loads,  far  in  the  rear.  Suddenly 
he  heard  Livingstone  warn  the  boys  that  the  Mafite  were 
coming ;  the  boys,  in  turn,  beckoned  Moosa  to  press  for- 
ward. Moosa  saw  the  crowd  here  and  there  among  the 
trees ;  and  he  had  just  gained  the  party,  and  had  sunk 
down  behind  a  tree  to  deliver  his  own  fire,  when  his 
leader  fell  by  an  axe-cut  from  behind.  Moosa  fled  for 
his  life  along  the  path  he  had  come,  meeting  his  Johanna 
men,  who  threw  down  their  loads,  and  in  a  body  rushed 
into  the  deeper  forest.  .  .  .  Near  him,  in  front,  lay  the 
grim  Zulus,  who  were  killed  under  his  sure  aim ;  here  and 
there  lay  some  four  dead  fugitives  p£  the  expedition, 

20 


230  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


That  >ne  blow  had  killed  him  outright :  he  had  no  other 
wound  but  this  terrible  gash ;  it  must  have  gone,  from 
their  description,  through  the  neck  and  spine,  up  to  the 
throat  in  front,  and  it  had  nearly  decapitated  him." 

This  story,  circumstantial  in  all  its  details,  was  ac- 
cepted as  true  by  all,  save  a  few  friends  of  Livingstone's, 
chief  among  wh'jm  were  Sir  Roderick  Murchison,  Mr. 
E.  D.  Young,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Waller,  who  had  been  for 
some  time  with  Dr.  Livingstone  on  the  Zambesi.  So 
firmly  persuaded  were  these  sagacious  men  of  the  false- 
hood of  the  report  brought  by  the  Johanna  men,  mainly 
from  an  accurate  knowledge  of  Livingstone's  method  of 
dealing  with  the  natives  in  Africa,  and  the  fact  that  none 
but  Johanna  men  had  returned  to  tell  the  tale,  and  that 
none  of  them  was  missing,  that  they  at  once  set  about 
organizing  an  expedition  to  discover  the  truth ;  the  dis- 
trict of  his  reputed  murder  to  be  reached  by  way  of  the 
Zambesi  and  the  Shire,  in  a  small  vessel  to  be  built  for 
the  purpose.  Mr.  Young  was  appointed  leader  of  the 
expedition ;  and  with  him  were  associated  Mr.  Henry 
Faulkner,  formerly  a  captain  in  H.  M.  17th  Lancers,  Mr. 
J.  Buckley,  an  old  shipmate  of  Mr.  Young's,  and  Mr. 
John  Reid,  a  mechanic.  The  expedition  was  originally 
organized  and  provided  for  b}T  the  council  of  the  Royal 
Geographical  Society,  and  was  warmly  encouraged  and 
assisted  by  the  admiralty.  A  boat  was  constructed  of 
steel,  in  sections  weighing  only  fifty  pounds  each,  for  con- 
venience of  land-carriage  past  the  Murchison  Rapids  on 
the  Shire ;  and  in  this  the  members  of  the  expedition  were 
to  be  rowel  by  natives  up  the  Zambesi  and  the  Shire. 
The  boat  was  christened  "  The  Search  ;  "  she  was  placed 
on  board  the  Cape  mail-steamer  "  The  Celt,"  which  sailed 
from  Plymouth  on  the  lOtb  of  June,  1867,  reaching  Table 
Bay  on  the  12th  of  July. 


THE  SEARCH  FOR  LIVINGSTONE. 


231 


In  their  instructions  from  the  council  of  the  Geographi- 
cal Society,  and  the  Admiralty,  they  were  enjoined,  if 
possible,  to  complete  their  mission,  and  return  to  the 
coast  by  or  before  the  end  of  November,  when  one  of 
H.M.S.  cruisers  would  arrive  about  that  time  to  take  them 
off.  On  the  27th  of  July  "  The  Search,"  and  two  whale- 
bjats  which  the}7  intended  to  take  with  them  to  assist  in 
currying  their  necessary  impedimenta,  which  was  com- 
prised within  the  smallest  bulk  that  a  knowledge  of  their 
necessities  could  manage,  was  launched  from  the  deck  of 
H.M.S.  "Petrel ;  "  and  accompanied  by  two  of  the  cutters 
of  the  ship,  in  which  were  several  officers,  they  safely 
crossed  the  bar  of  the  Kongone,  and  landed  on  the  delta, 
where  they  completed  their  final  arrangements,  such  as 
engaging  native  rowers,  &c.  They  started  at  eight,  a.m., 
on  the  6th  of  August,  and  proceeded  up  stream ;  and  for 
a  time  the  search  party  were  lost  to  view. 

In  the  mean  time  reports  had  reached  Zanzibar,  through 
various  channels,  that  a  white  man  had  been  seen  to  the 
west  of  Tanganyika,  in  the  country  of  the  Marunga.  The 
information  was  brought  by  a  native  slave,  who  picked 
out  the  traveller's  photograph  from  many  others  as  being 
the  white  man  he  had  seen.  Rumors  of  a  similar  kind 
arrived  at  Zanzibar,  and  tended  greatly  to  allay  the  feel- 
ing of  pain  and  uncertainty  which  had  been  caused  by 
his  reputed  death. 

All  doubts  of  the  falsehood  of  the  Johanna  men  were 
«et  at  rest  by  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Young  and  Mr.  Faulkner 
of  the  Livingstone  search  expedition,  at  the  Cape,  on  the 
17th  of  December,  1867  ;  bringing  intelligence  that  they 
had  met  with  natives  on  the  banks  of  Lake  Nyassa,  who 
had  seem  Livingstone  after  the  Johanna  men  had  deserted 
him,  and  who  had  been  emoloyed  in  carrying  his  baggage 


232  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL  D. 


twenty  miles  to  the  north-west  of  Maksoira's  village  ;  which, 
again,  was  ten  days'  journey  from  the  point  at  which  the 
Johanna  men  had  deserted  him,  and  returned  to  spread  a 
report  of  the  death  of  the  great  traveller,  to  cover  their 
own  cowardly  and  treacherous  conduct  in  leaving  their 
leader  to  his  fate.  One  of  the  natives  at  Marenga's  town, 
where  Livingstone  had  been  generously  treated  by  the 
chief  of  that  name,  had  a  knife,  and  another  had  a  spoon, 
which  the  u  white  man"  had  presented  to  them.  Pro- 
ceeding to  Mapunda's  village,  in  search  of  still  further 
information,  the  mother  of  that  chief  showed  them  a 
prayer-book,  containing  the  name  of  one  of  the  doctor's 
followers  who  had  been  left*  behind  on  account  of  lame- 
ness. As  this  bo}r,  Waik-tanee  (who  was  reported  by  the 
Johanna  men  to  have  deserted) ,  was  absent  with  the  chief, 
Mr.  Young  and  his  party  had  no  opportunity  of  examin- 
ing him.  As,  in  addition  to  the  information  received 
from  so  many  sources,  all  the  natives  who  had  seen  Dr. 
Livingstone,  as  he  passed  through,  recognized  his  photo- 
graph among  a  number  of  others,  they  had  no  doubt  but 
that  their  mission  was  accomplished,  and  the  dauntless 
explorer  had  passed. onwards  to  settle  the  question  of  the 
head  waters  of  the  Nile,  and  work  his  way  home  by  that 
river.  After  waiting  for  a  considerable  time  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Kongone,  the  search  party  were  taken  off  by  H.M.S. 
44  Racoon  ;  "  when  they  had  the  satisfaction  of  having  their 
information  corroborated  by  the  native  intelligence  we  have 
already  alluded  to  as  having  arrived  at  Zanzibar,  that 
Livingstone  was  alive  and  well  long  after  the  date  up  to 
which  they  had  traced  his  actual  presence,  and  his  more 
than  probable  safety  for  some  time  after  ;  Marenga  being 
certain,  that,  if  any  disaster  had  befallen  him  within  sev- 
eral months'  journey  of  the  spot,  he  would  have  heard  of  it 


A  EAPPT  POL  Y GAM  1ST. 


233 


This  Marenga  appears  to  have  made  a  strong  impres- 
sion on  Mr.  Young.  When  he  first  met  him,  he  says,  "  I 
found  myself  in  the  presence  of  a  fat,  jovial-looking  old 
fellow,  the  very  picture  of  good  living  and  good  humor. 
Without  further  ado,  he  seized  me  by  the  hand,  and  shook 
it  most  violently,  clearly  demonstrating  not  only  his  re- 
spect for  my  countrymen,  but  also  for  their  mode  of  salu- 
tation." When  Moosa  and  his  companions  returned  to 
Marenga's  village,  after  deserting  Livingstone,  he  up- 
braided them  with  their  desertion  of  him.  They  said, 
"  They  were  merely  Arabs  who  had  come  across  Living- 
stone in  his  wanderings,  and  had  consented  to  help  him 
in  his  undertaking ;  but,  really,  there  must  be  some  limit 
to  all  things ;  and,  as  they  knew  he  was  about  to  enter  a 
very  dangerous  country,  they  were  not  justified  in  further 
indulging  their  disinterested  motives  in  assisting  a  travel- 
ler, and  having,  as  it  were,  torn  themselves  away  from 
him  with  reluctance,  they  must  now  go  back  to  the 
coast."  Marenga  belonged  to  the  Babisa,  of  whom  we 
have  already  spoken  as  being  the  traders  of  the  district 
round  Nyassa.  He  was  a  horrid  polygamist,  and,  what  is 
more,  evidently  maintained  his  numerous  wives  in  peace 
and  harmony.  Mr.  Young  says,  "  With  great  satisfac- 
tion he  introduced  us  to  forty  of  his  young  wives,  who, 
although  not  fair,  and  far  under  forty  in  years  in  any  case, 
were  as  sleek  as  good  living  and  pombi  (beer)  drinking 
could  make  them.  Their  reverence  for  their  liege  lord 
was  excessive ;  and  he  could  not  stir  without  his  least 
want  or  wish  being  anticipated  by  one  or  other  of  them." 
Speaking  of  the  expedition  of  Mr.  Young,  and  its  suc- 
cessful termination,  in  a  letter  to  the  members  of  the 
Geographical  Society,  Sir  Roderick  Murchison  says,  "  To 
put  together  a  boat  constructed  in  sections,  to  find  a  negro 
20* 


234  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


crew  for  the  navigation  of  the  Zambesi,  to  put  the  boat 
together,  and  have  it  carried  up  thirty-six  miles  along  the 
sides  of  the  cataracts  (the  Murchison  Cataracts)  to  the 
River  Shire  ;  then,  after  navigating  the  waters  until  the  fate 
of  Livingstone  was  clearly  ascertained,  to  take  the  vessel 
to  pieces,  and  convey  it  to  the  Zambesi ;  and  again  to  re- 
construct it,  and  to  sail  down  the  Zambesi,  and  finally 
bring  it  and  the  party  safe  back  to  England  without  the 
loss  of  a  single  man,  — this,  indeed,  is  a  real  triumph." 
Mr.  Young  has  published  an  account  of  the  expedition, 
entitled  "  The  Search  after  Livingstone;"  and  Capt. 
Faulkner  has  published  a  work  under  the  title  of  ' 6  Ele- 
phant Haunts,"  &c,  which  gives  an  interesting  account 
of  the  animal  life  of  the  districts  through  which  they 
passed,  and  his  sporting  adventures  among  them. 

The  first  accounts  of  his  movements,  by  the  traveller 
himself,  reached  the  country  in  the  shape  of  a  letter  to  a 
friend  in  Edinburgh,  about  the  20th  of  April,  from  which 
we  make  the  following  extracts.  It  is  dated  the  country 
of  Chipeta,  which  is  far  to  the  north-west  of  the  point  to 
which  the  search  expedition  traced  him,  and  was  written 
on  the  10th  of  November,  1866.  "It  has  been  quite  im- 
possible to  send  a  letter  coastwise  ever  since  we  left  the 
Rovuma.  The  Arab  slave-traders  take  to  their  heels  as 
soon  as  they  hear  that  the  English  are  on  the  road.  I  am 
a  perfect  bugbear  to  them.  Eight  parties  thus  skedaddled  ; 
and,  last  of  all,  my  Johanna  men,  frightened  out  of  their 
frits  by  stories  told  them  by  a  member  of  a  ninth  party 
who  had  been  plundered  of  his  slaves,  walked  off,  and 
Left  me  to  face  the  terrible  Mazitu  with  nine  Nassick 
boys.  The  fear  which  the  English  name  has  struck  into 
the  slave-traders  has  thus  been  an  inconvenience.  I 
could  not  go  round  the  north  end  of  the  lake  for  fear  that 


NEWS  FROM  LIVINGSTONE. 


235 


my  Johanna  men,  at  sight  of  danger,  would  do  then  what 
they  actually  did  at  ;he  southern  end ;  and  the  owr.er  of 
two  dhows  now  on  the  lake  kept  them  out  of  sight,  lest  I 
should  burn  them  as  slavers,  and  I  could  not  cross  in  the 
middle."  Hounding  the  southern  end,  he  got  up  Kirk's 
range,  and  among  Manganja  not  yet  made  slave-sellers. 
"  This  was  a  great  treat ;  for,  like  all  who  have  not  been 
contaminated  by  that  blight,  they  were  very  kind ;  and, 
having  been  worried  enough  by  unwilling  sepoys  and  cow- 
ardly Johanna  men,  I  followed  my  bent  by  easy  marches, 
among  friendly,  generous  people,  to  whom  I  tried  to  im- 
part some  new  ideas  in  return  for  their  hospitality.  The 
country  is  elevated,  and  the  climate  cool.  One  of  the 
wonders  told  of  us  in  successive  villages  was  that  we  slept 
without  fires.  The  boys,  having  blankets,  did  not  need 
fire ;  while  the  inhabitants,  being  scantily  clad,  have  their 
huts  plastered  inside  and  out,  and  even  use  moss  to  make 
them  comfortable.  Our  progress  since  has  been  slow 
from  other  and  less  agreeable  causes.  Some  parts  have 
been  denuded  of  food  by  marauding  Mazitu  or  Zulus :  we 
have  been  fain  to  avoid  them,  and  gone  zigzag.  Once  we 
nearly  walked  into  the  hands  of  a  party  ;  and  several  times 
we  have  been  detained  by  rumors  of  the  enemy  in  front. 

"  January,  1867.  —  I  mention  several  causes  of  delay ; 
i  mu&t  add  the  rainy  season  is  more  potent  than  all, 
except  hunger.  In  passing  through  the  Babisa  country, 
we  found  that  food  was  not  to  be  had.  The  Babisa  are 
great  slave-traders,  and  have,  in  consequence,  little  indus- 
try. This  seems  to  be  the  chief  cause  of  their  having  no 
food  to  spare.  The  rains,  too,  are  more  copious  than  I 
ever  saw  them  anywhere  in  Africa ;  but  we  shall  get  on 
in  time.  Feb.  1. — I  am  in  Bemba  or  Loemba,  and  at 
the  chief  man's  place,  which  has  three  stockades  around 


236  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D, 


it,  and  a  deep,  dry  ditch  round  the  inner  one.  He 
seems  a  fine  fellow,  and  gave  us  a  cow  to  slaughter  on 
our  arrival  y esterday.  We  are  going  to  hold  a  Christmas 
feast  of  it  to-morrow,  as  I  promised  the  boj-s  a  blow-out 
when  we  came  to  a  place  of  plenty.  We  have  had  pre- 
cious hard  lines  ;  and  I  would  not  complain,  if  it  had  not 
been  for  gnawing  hunger  for  many  a  day,  and  our  bones 
sticking  through,  as  if  they  would  burst  the  skin.  When 
we  were  in  a  part  where  game  abounded,  I  filled  the  pot 
with  a  first-rate  rifle,  given  me  by  Capt.  Warter ;  but 
elsewhere  we  had  but  very  short  rations  of  a  species  of 
millet  called  macre,  which  passes  the  stomach  almost 
unchanged.  The  sorest  grief  of  all  was  the  loss  of  the 
medicine-box,  which  your  friends  at  Apothecaries'  Hall  so 
kindly  fitted  up."  Several  of  his  attendants  acting  as 
carriers  had  made  off  with  the  box,  his  plates,  and  dishes, 
and  most  of  his  powder,  and  two  guns.  "  This  loss,  with 
all  our  medicine,  fell  on  my  heart  like  a  sentence  of  death 
by  fever,  as  was  the.  case  with  poor  Bishop  Mackenzie ; 
but  I  shall  try  native  remedies,  trusting  Him  who  has  led 
me  hitherto  to  lead  me  still.  We  have  been  mostly  on 
elevated  land,  between  three  thousand  and  five  thousand 
feet  above  the  sea.  I  think  we  are  now  in  the  watershed 
for  which  I  was  to  seek.  We  are  forty-five  hundred  feet 
above  the  sea  level,  and  will  begin  to  descend  when  we  go. 
This  maybe  put  down  as  10°,  50',  2".  We  found  a  party 
of  black  half-caste  armed  slaves  here,  and  one  promised  to 
take  a  letter  to  Zanzibar ;  but  they  give  me  only  half  a 
day  to  write.  I  shall  send  what  I  can,  and  hope  they 
will  be  as  good  as  their  word.  We  have  not  had  a  single 
difficulty  with  the  people,  but  we  have  been  very  slow. 
Eight  miles  a  day  is  a  good  march  for  us,  loaded  as  the 
boys  are ;  and  we  have  often  been  obliged  to  go  zigzag, 
us  I  mentioned.    Blessings  on  you  all ! " 


AN  INTELLIGENT  CHIEF. 


237 


The  next  communication  from  Livingstone  was  ad- 
dressed to  Sir  Roderick  Murchison,  and  was  read  at  a 
meeting  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  on  the  29th 
of  April,  1868.  It  is  dated  Feb.  2,  1867.  We  give 
extracts  from  it,  cutting  out  parts  referring  to  matters 
dealt  with  in  the  preceding  letter.  From  the  end  of 
July  to  the  middle  of  September,  Livingstone  remained 
at  Mateka,  about  fifty  miles  from  Nyassa  on  the  Rovuma 
side.  He  says,  "There  are  at  least  a  thousand  houses 
in  the  town,  and  Mateka  is  the  most  powerful  chief  in  the 
country.  .  .  .  He  was  anxious  that  some  of  the  liberated 
boys  (Nassick  bo}<s)  should  remain  with  him  ;  and  I  tried 
my  best  to  induce  them,  but  in  vain.  He  wished  to  be 
shown  how  to  make  use  of  his  cattle  in  agriculture :  I 
promised  to  try  and  get  some  other  boys,  acquainted  with 
Indian^  agriculture,  for  him.  That  is  the  best  point  I 
have  seen  for  an  influential  station,  and  Mateka  showed 
some  sense  of  right.  When  his  people  went,  without  his 
knowledge,  to  plunder  at  a  part  of  the  lake,  he  ordered 
the  captives  and  cattle  to  be  sent  back.  This  was  his 
own  spontaneous  act,  and  it  took  place  before  our  arrival ; 
but  I  accidentally  saw  the  strangers.  They  consisted  of 
fifty-four  women  and  children,  about  a  dozen  bo3Ts,  thirty 
head  of  cattle  and  calves.  I  gave  him  a  trinket  in  mem- 
ury  of  his  good  conduct,  at  which  he  was  delighted  ;  for  it 
aad  not  been  without  opposition  that  he  carried  out  his 
orders,  and  he  showed  the  token  of  my  approbation  in 
triumph." 

Leaving  the  shores  of  the  lake,  he  endeavored  to 
ascend  Kirk's  range  ;  4 ;  but  the  people  below  were  afraid 
of  those  above ;  and  it  was  only  after  an  old  friend, 
Katosa,  had  turned  out  with  his  wives  to  carry  our  extra 
loads,  that  we  got  up.    It  is  only  the  edge  of  a  plateau, 


238  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D, 


peopled  by  various  tribes  of  Manganja,  who  had  never 
been  engaged  in  slaving ;  in  fact,  they  had  driven  away  a 
lot  of  Arab  slavers  a  short  time  before.  We  used  to 
think  them  all  Maravi ;  but  Katosa  is  the  only  Maravi 
%  chief  we  know.  The  Kanthunda,  or  climbers,  live  on  the 
mountains  that  rise  out  of  the  plateau ;  the  Chipeta  live 
more  on  the  plains  there  ;  the  Echewa  still  farther  north. 
We  went  among  a  very  hospitable  people,  until  we 
thought  we  were  past  the  longitude  of  the  Mazitu ;  we 
then  turned  north,  and  all  but  fell  into  the  hands  of  a 
marauding  party  of  that  people.  After  a  rather  zigzag 
course,  we  took  up  the  point  we  had  left  in  1863,  or  say 
21'  west  of  Chimanga's,  crossed  the  Loangwa  in  12° 
45'  south,  as  it  flows  in  the  bed  of  an  ancient  lake,  and, 
after  emerging  out  of  this  great  hollow,  we  ascended  the 
plateau  of  Lobisa,  at  the  southern  limit  of  11°  south. 
The  hills  on  one  part  of  it  rise  to  a  height  of  sixty-six 
hundred  feet  above  the  sea,  .  .  .  We  had  now,  on  the 
plains,  a  good  deal  of  gnawing  hunger,  as  day  after  day 
we  trod  the  sloppy,  dripping  forests,  which  yield  some 
wretched  wild  fruit  and  lots  of  mushrooms.  A  woman 
collected  a  load  of  half  a  hundred  weight.  After  cooking, 
they  pound  them  into  what  they  call 4  porridge  ; '  but,  woe 
is  me !  they  are  good  only  for  producing  dreams  of  the 
roast  beef  of  bygone  days.  .  .  .  When  we  got  to  the 
Chambeze,  which  is  true  to  the  character  of  the  Zambesi, 
in  having  abundant  animal  life  in  its  waters,  we  soon  got 
an  antelope  on  its  banks.  We  crossed  it  in  10°  24' :  it 
was  flooded  with  clear  water,  but  the  lines  of  bushy  trees 
which  showed  its  actual  banks  were  not  more  than  forty 
yards  apart. 

"  We  arrived  here  (at  Bemba)  on  the  last  day  of  Jan 
uary.   It  is  a  stockaded  village  with  three  lines  of  defence, 


LIVINGSTONE  AT  TANGANYIKA. 


239 


the  inner  one  having  a  deep  dry  ditch  round  it.  I  think, 
if  I  am  not  mistaken,  we  are  on  the  watershed  between 
the  Chambeze  and  Loapula.  I  have  not  had  any  time  to 
take  observations,  as  it  is  the  rainy  season,  and  almost 
always  cloudy ;  but  we  shall  rest  a  little  here,  and  get 
some  flesh  on  our  bones.  Altitude  about  forty-five  hun 
dred  feet  above  the  sea.  The  Loapula  is  said  to  be  a 
very  large  river;  but  I  hope  to  send  fuller  information 
from  Tanganyika.  .  .  .  The  chief  here  seems  a  jolly, 
frank  person ;  but,  unless  the  country  is  insecure,  I  don't 
see  the  use  of  his  lines  of  circumvallation.  He  presented 
a  cow  on  our  arrival,  and  an  elephant's  tusk,  because  I 
had  sat  upon  it. 

"  I  have  had  no  news  whatever  from  the  coast  since  we 
left  it,  but  hope  for  letters,  and  our  second  stock  of  goods 
(a  small  one),  at  Ujiji.  I  have  been  unable  to  send 
any  thing  either :  some  letters  I  have  written  in  hopes  of 
meeting  an  Arab  slave-trader,  but  they  all  skedaddled  as 
soon  as  they  heard  the  English  were  coming." 

News  reached  England  early  in  October  that  Living- 
stone was  on  his  way  to  the  coast,  and  was,  at  the  time 
of  their  transmission,  within  a  few  miles  of  Zanzibar  ;  but, 
on  the  20th  and  23d,  word  reached  London  from  Dr. 
Kirk,  that  he  had  letters  from  him  dated  from  Marenga, 
a  district  south,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Lake  Tangan- 
yika, in  latitude  7°  55'  south,  and  longitude  30°  east, 
near  Ujiji,  a  district  and  an  Arab  station  on  Lake 
Tanganyika.  This  letter  was  very  brief,  and  had  been 
written  in  the  months  of  October  and  December,  and 
gave  a  satisfactory  account  for  the  delay  in  his  progress 
to  the  north.  He  had  been  living  for  three  months  with 
friendly  Arabs,  and  waiting  for  the  close  of  a  native  war 
before  proceeding  to  Ujiji ;  and  he  told  the  Arab  mes- 


240 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


senger,  that,  after  exploring  Tanganyika,  he  meant  to 
return  to  Zanzibar.  Dr.  Kirk  reported,  when  sending  this 
information,  that  provisions,  medicines,  letters,  &c,  bad 
been  sent  to  Ujiji  to  meet  him,  some  time  previous  to  the 
receipt  of  his  letters. 

On  the  18th  of  January,  1869,  a  letter  appeared  in  "  The 
Times"  from  Horace  Waller,  one  of  Livingstone's  old 
comrades  during  a  part  of  the  Zambesi  expedition,  that, 
from  letters  received  from  Dr.  Kirk  from  Zanzibar,  noth- 
ing had  been  heard  of  Livingstone  for  a  long  time.  After 
cautioning  the  public  to  be  in  no  anxiety  on  that  account, 
he  says,  uDr.  Kirk  informs  me  that  Moosa  (the  chief  of 
the  Johanna  men  who  deserted  him)  has  been  handed 
over  to  him  at  Zanzibar  from  Johanna.  Finding  that  he 
had  already  passed  eight  months  in  heavy  irons,  the 
authorities  very  humanely  considered  this  time  sufficient 
for  the  reflective  powers  of  the  mischievous  scamp  to 
reconsider  the  merits  of  truth  and  falsehood  ;  so  Dr.  Kirk' 
set  him  free." 

On  the  19th  of  April,  news  arrived  in  England  that 
Livingstone  had  reached  Zanzibar,  and  was  on  his  way  to 
England.  His  old  friend  Sir  Roderick  Murchison  pub- 
lished his  doubts  of  the  truth  of  this  ;  and,  as  in  many 
other  cases  where  the  great  traveller  was  concerned,  the 
veteran  geologist  was  correct.  A  report  of  Dr.  Living- 
stone having  been  murdered,  and  another  of  his  being  in 
captivity,  having  got  into  circulation,  was  causing  much 
anxiety  in  the  public  mind.  Sir  R.  Murchison  wrote  in 
"The  London  Scotsman"  on  the  6th  of  September,  as 
follows.  After  explaining  that  a  long  time  must  elapse, 
in  consequence  of  the  district  into  which  he  had  entered, 
before  we  could  expect  to  hear  from  him,  he  says,  u  It  is, 
therefore,  I  think,  quite  unnecessary  to  have  recourse  to 


LETTER  TO  LORD  CLARENDON.  241 


the  hypothesis  of  his  captivity.  But,  whatever  may  be 
the  speculations  entered  into  during  his  absence,  I  have 
such  implicit  confidence  in  the  tenacity  of  purpose,  undy- 
ing resolution,  and  Herculean  power,  of  Livingstone,  that, 
however  he  may  be  delayed,  I  hold  stoutly  to  the  opinion 
that  he  will  overcome  every  obstacle,  and  will,  as  I  have 
suggested,  emerge  from  South  Africa  on  the  same  west- 
ern shore  on  which  he  appeared  after  his  first  great 
march  across  that  region,  and  long  after  his  life  had 
been  despaired  of." 

Sir  Roderick  Murchison  was  partly  right  once  more. 
Livingstone  was  not  on  his  way  home,  nor  thinking  of  it ; 
for  on  the  24th  of  October,  1869,  a  telegram  was  re- 
ceived in  this  country,  to  the  effect  that  Dr.  Kirk  had 
received  a  letter  from  him,  dated  July  8,  1868,  from 
Lake  Bangweolo,  in  which  he  said,  "  I  have  found  the 
source  of  the  Nile  between  10°  and  12°  south."  The 
great  traveller  wrote  in  good  health  and  spirits ;  and 
it  was  cheering,  at  the  same  time,  to  be  told  that  a  cara- 
van, which  had  recently  arrived  at  Zanzibar,  reported  him 
at  Ujiji  on  Lake  Tanganjdka,  and  that  the  road  between 
them  was  open. 

The  letter  was  addressed  to  Lord  Clarendon.  We  give 
the  following  extracts  :  "  When  I  had  the  honor  of  writ- 
ing to  you  in  February,  1867,  I  had  the  impression  that  I 
was  then  on  the  watershed  of  the  Zambesi,  and  either  the 
Congo  or  the  Nile.  More  extended  observation  has  since 
convinced  me  of  the  essential  correctness  of  that  impres- 
sion ;  and  from  what  I  have  seen,  together  with  what  I 
have  learned  from  intelligent  natives,  I  think  that  I  may 
safely  assert  that  the  chief  sources  of  the  Nile  arise 
between  10°  and  12°  south  latitude,  or  nearly  in  the 
position  assigned  to  them  by  Ptolemy,  whose  River 

21 


212 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


Rap  tit  a  is  probably  the  Rovuma.  Aware  that  others 
have  been  mistaken,  and  laying  no  claim  to  infallibility,  I 
do  not  speak  very  positively,  particularly  of  the  parts 
"west  and  north-west  of  Tanganyika,  because  these  have 
not  yet  come  under  my  observation  ;  but  if  your  lordshij 
will  read  the  following  short  sketch  of  my  discoveries, 
you  will  perceive  that  the  springs  of  the  Nile  have  hith- 
erto been  searched  for  very  much  too  far  north.  They 
rise  about  four  hundred  miles  south  of  the  most  southerly 
portion  of  Victoria  Nyanza,  and,  indeed,  south  of  all  th$ 
lakes  except  Bangweolo,  leaving  the  valley  of  the  Lo 
angwa,  which  enters  the  Zambesi  at  Zumbo.  We  climbed 
up  what  seemed  to  be  a  great  mountain  mass ;  but  it 
turned  out  to  be  only  the  southern  edge  of  an  elevated 
region,  which  is  from  three  thousand  to  six  thousand  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea.  This  upland  may  roughly  be 
said  to  cover  a  space  south  of  Lake  Tanganyika  of  some 
three  hundred  and  fifty  square  miles.  It  is  generally 
covered  with  dense  or  open  forest ;  has  an  undulating, 
sometimes  hilly  surface,  a  rich  soil,  is  well  watered  by 
numerous  rivulets  ;  and,  for  Africa,  is  cold.  It  slopes 
towards  the  north  and  west ;  but  I  have  found  no  part  of 
it  under  three  hundred  feet  of  altitude.  The  country  of 
Xsango,  situated  east  of  the  space  indicated,  is  also  an 
upland,  and  affords  pasturage  for  the  immense  herds  of 
the  cattle  of  the  Basango,  a  remarkably  light-colored  race, 
very  friendly  to  strangers.  Nsango  forms  the  eastern 
side  of  a  great  but  still  elevated  valley.  The  other  or 
western  arch  is  formed  by  what  are  called  the  Kone 
Mountains,  beyond  the  copper  mines  of  Katango.  Still 
farther  wrest,  and  beyond  the  Kone  range  or  plateau,  our 
old  acquaintance  the  Zambesi,  under  the  name  of  Jam- 
basi,  is  said  to  rise.    The  southern  end  of  the  great 


COURSE  OF  THE  RIVERS. 


243 


valley  between  Nsango  and  the  Kone  range  is  between 
11°  and  12°  south.  ...  As  we  advanced,  brooks, 
evidently  perennial,  became  numerous.  Some  went 
eastwards  to  fall  into  the  Loangwa ;  others  went  north- 
west to  join  the  river  Chambeze.  Misled  by  a  map  call- 
ing this  river,  in  an  off-hand  manner,  4  Zambezi,  eastern 
branch,'  I  took  it  to  be  the  southern  river  of  that  name  ; 
but  the  Chambeze,  with  all  its  branches,  flows  from  the 
eastern  side  into  the  centre  of  the  great  upland  valley 
mentioned,  which  is  probably  the  valle}^  of  the  Nile.  It 
is  an' interesting  river,  as  helping  to  form  these  lakes,  and 
changing  its  name  three  times  in  the  five  hundred  or  six 
hundred  miles  of  its  course.  .  .  . 

"  The  Chambeze  runs  into  Lake  Bangweolo,  and  on 
coming  out  of  it  assumes  the  name  Luapula,  and  flows 
north,  past  the  town  of  Cazembe,  and  twelve  miles  below 
it  enters  Lake  Moero.  On  leaving  Moero,  ...  it  takes 
the  name  Lualapa,  and  passing  on  north-north-west  forms 
Lake  N}denge,  in  the  country  west  of  Tanganyika." 

Here  follow  a  number  of  surmises  as  to  the  course  of 
the  river  running  out  of  Nylenge  ;  which  were  exceedingly 
interesting  at  the  time,  but  are  now  forestalled  by  infor- 
mation derived  from  personal  observation,  with  which  we 
will  deal  farther  on.  The  summing  up  of  his  opinion,  as 
to  the  destination  of  all  the  water  flowing  to  the  north  by 
numerous  channels,  is  worthy  of  weight  in  the  light  of 
what  he  has  actually  determined,  and  was  about  to  further 
establish  when  left  by  Mr.  Stanley,  the  persevering  and 
courageous  correspondent  of  "The  New  York  Herald," 
who  had  the  good  fortune  to  connect  the  great  traveller 
once  more  with  civilization.  He  says,  u  My  opinion  at 
present  is,  if  the  large  amount  of  water  I  have  seen 
going  north  does  not  flow  past  Tanganyika  on  the  west, 


244  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


it  must  have  an  exit  from  the  lake,  and  in  all  likelihood 
by  the  Loanda.  .  .  .  On  the  northern  slope  of  the  up- 
land, and  on  the  2d  of  April,  1867,  I  discovered  Lake 
Liemba.  It  lies  in  a  hollow,  with  precipitous  sides,  two 
thousand  feet  down.  It  is  extremely  beautiful ;  sides,  top, 
and  bottom  being  covered  with  trees  and  other  vegetation. 
Elephants,  buffaloes,  and  antelopes  feed  on  the  steep 
slopes,  while  hippopotami,  crocodiles,  and  fish  swarm  in 
the  waters.  ...  It  is  as  perfect  a  natural  paradise  as 
Xenophon  could  have  desired.  On  two  rocky  islands, 
men  till  the  land,  rear  goats,  and  catch  fish ;  the  villages 
ashore  are  embowered  in  the  palm-oil  palms  of  the  west 
coast  of  Africa.  Four  considerable  streams  flow  into 
Liemba ;  and  a  number  of  brooks,  from  twelve  to  fifteen 
feet  broad,  leap  down  the  steep  bright  clay  schist  rocks, 
and  form  splendid  cascades,  that  made  the  dullest  of  my 
attendants  pause  and  remark  with  wonder.  I  measured 
one  of  the  streams  fifty  miles  from  its  confluence,  and 
found  it,  at  a  ford,  two  hundred  and  ninety-four  feet,  .  .  . 
thigh  and  waist  deep,  and  flowing  fast  over  hardened 
sandstone  flag,  in  September.  The  last  rain  had  fallen 
on  the  12th  of  Maj\  .  .  .  The  Lonzua  drives  a  large 
body  of  smooth  water  into  Liemba  :  this  body  of  water  was 
ten  fathoms  deep.  Another  of  the  four  streams  is  said  to 
be  larger  than  the  Lofu ;  but  an  over-officious  head  man 
prevented  me  from  seeing  more  of  it  and  another  than 
three  mouths.  The  lake  is  not  large  ;  from  eighteen  to 
twenty  miles  broad,  and  from  thirty  to  forty  long." 

Livingstone  was  unable,  a  war  being  then  raging,  to 
settle  the  question  whether  the  lake  was  connected  by  its 
effluent,  or  not,  with  Lake  Tanganyika,  which  he  strongly 
suspected.  Afterwards,  according  to  intelligence  received 
through  Mr.  Stanley,  he  found  that  his  surmise  was  cor- 


VISIT  TO  CAZEMBE. 


245 


rect,  and  added  one  more  link  to  the  chain  of  evidence 
that  he  was  among  the  head  waters  of  the  Nile.  The  war, 
which  interrupted  his  forward  progress  in  the  direction  he 
wished  to  proceed,  was  the  result  of  a  quarrel  between  the 
chief  of  Itawa  and  a  party  of  ivory- traders.  On  going 
eighty  miles  in  a  direction  to  avoid  the  disturbed  district, 
he  came  upon  the  Arab  ivory-traders ;  and,  on  showing 
them  a  letter  from  the  Sultan  of  Zanzibar,  they  supplied 
him  with  provisions,  cloth,  and  beads  ;  and,  after  a  tedious 
interval  of  three  months,  he  was  mainly  instrumental  in 
patching  up  a  peace  between  them  and  the  Itawa  chief. 
"  I  was  glad,"  he  saj^s,  6  4  to  see  the  mode  of  ivory  and 
slave  trading  of  these  men  :  it  proved  such  a  perfect  con- 
trast to  that  of  the  ruffians  of  Kilwa,  and  to  the  ways  of 
the  atrocious  Portuguese  from  Tete."  After  peace  was 
declared,  he  visited  Masama,  the  chief  of  Itawa,  and  ex- 
amined Lake  Moero,  which  he  found  to  be  sixty  miles 
long,  and  from  twenty  to  fifty  miles  broad.  From  thence 
he  visited  Cazembe,  and  was  very  hospitably  treated  by 
the  chief  of  that  name,  with  whom  he  staid  forty  days, 
on  account  of  the  rains  having  flooded  the  country,  and 
made  progress  impossible.  Cazembe's  town,  which  has 
been  three  times  visited  by  Portuguese,  "  stands  on  the 
north-east  bank  of  the  lakelet  Mojeve  :  this  is  from  two  to 
three  miles  broad,  and  nearly  four  long.  It  has  several 
low,  reedy  islets,  and  yields  plenty  of  fish,  a  species  of 
perch."  He  was  very  desirous  of  visiting  Lake  Bangweolo 
at  this  time,  and  would  have  attempted  it  in  spite  of  the 
rains ;  but  "  not  having  a  grain  of  any  kind  of  medicine, 
and  as  fever  without  treatment  produced  very  disagreeable 
sj^mptoms,  I  thought  that  it  would  be  unwise  to  venture 
where  swelled  thyroid  glands,  known  among  us  as  Derby- 
shire neck,  and  elephantiasis  (seroli),  prevail."  Getting 

21* 


246 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  LL.D. 


tired  of  his  inactivity,  he  went  northwards  towards  Ujiji^ 
"  where,"  he  says,  "  I  have  goods,  and,  I  hope,  letters, 
for  I  have  heard  nothing  from  the  world  for  more  than 
two  years  ;  but,  when  I  got  within  thirteen  days  of  Tan- 
ganyika, I  was  brought  to  a  standstill  by  the  superabun- 
dance of  water  in  the  country  in  front."  His  description 
of  wading  across  swollen  rivulets,  flooded  plains,  and 
morasses,  gives  a  vivid  idea  of  the  courage  and  resolution 
of  the  man.  The  paths  among  the  long  grass  were  even 
more  trying  than  these.  He  says,  "The  plain  was  of 
black  mud,  with  grass  higher  than  our  heads.  We  had 
to  follow  the  path,  which,  in  places,  the  feet  of  passengers 
had  worn  into  deep  ruts.  Into  these  we  every  now  and 
then  plunged,  and  fell  over  the  ankles  in  soft  mud,  while 
hundreds  of  bubbles  rushed  up,  and,  bursting,  emitted  a 
frightful  odor.  ^Ye  had  four  hours  of  this  wading  and 
plunging  ;  the  last  mile  was  the  worst ;  and  right  glad  we 
were  to  get  out  of  it,  and  bathe  in  the  clear,  tepid  waters 
and  sandy  beach  of  Moero.  In  going  up  the  bank  of 
the  lake,  we  first  of  all  forded  four  torrents  thigh  deep, 
then  a  river  eighty  yards  wide,  with  three  hundred  yards 
of  flood  on  its  west  bank,  so  deep,  we  had  to  keep  to  the 
canoes  till  within  fifty  yards  of  the  higher  ground,  then 
four  brooks  from  five  to  fifteen  yards  broad.  One  of  them, 
the  Chungu,  possesses  a  somewhat  melancholy  interest,  as 
that  on  which  poor  Dr.  Lacerda  died.  .  .  .  His  latitude 
of  Cazembe's  town  on  the  Chungu  being  fifty  miles  wrong, 
probably  reveals  that  his  mind  was  clouded  with  fever, 
when  he  last  observed  ;  and  any  one  who  knows  what  that 
implies  will  look  upon  his  error  with  compassion.  .  .  . 
The  state  of  the  rivers  and  the  country  made  me  go  in 
the  lightest  marching-order.  I  took  nothing  but  the  most 
necessary  instruments,  and  no  paper  except  a  couple  of 


MISREPRESENTATION. 


247 


note-books  and  the  Bible.  On  unexpectedly  finding  a 
party  going  to  the  coast,  I  borrowed  a  piece  of  paper  from 
an  Arab  ;  and  the  effects,  unavoidable  in  the  circumstances, 
you  will  kindly  excuse.  Only  four  of  my  attendants  would 
come  here ;  the  others,  on  various  pretences,  absconded. 
The  fact  is,  they  are  all  tired  of  this  everlasting  tramp- 
ing ;  and  so  verily  am  I.  Were  it  not  for  an  inveterate 
dislike  to  give  in  to  difficulties,  without  doing  my  utmost 
to  overcome  them,  I  would  abscond  too.  I  comfort  my- 
self by  the  hope,  that,  by  making  the  country  and  the  peo- 
ple better  known,  I  am  doing  good ;  and,  by  imparting  a 
little  knowledge  occasionally,  I  may  be  working  in  accord- 
ance with  the  plans  of  an  all-embracing  Providence,  which 
now  forms  part  of  the  belief  of  all  the  more  intelligent  of 
our  race.  My  efforts  may  be  appreciated  in  good  times 
coming  yet." 

After  speaking  of  the  care  which  he  had  alwa}Ts  taken 
to  give  the  position  of  places  with  the  utmost  accuracy, 
and  the  compliments  paid  to  the  success  with  wiiich  he 
had  done  this,  on  the  Zambesi  and  the  Shire,  b}T  scientific 
men,  he  .says,  "  Well,  it  is  not  very  comforting,  after 
all  my  care,  and  risk  of  health,  and  even  of  life,  it  is  not 
veiy  inspiriting  to  find  two  hundred  miles  of  lake  tacked 
on  to  the  north-west  end  of  Nyassa  ;  and  then  two  hundred 
miles  perched  up  on  the  upland  region,  and  passed  over 
some  three  thousand  feet  higher  than  the  rest  of  the  lake ! 
We  shall  probably  hear  that  the  author  of  this  feat  in  fan- 
cyography  claims  therefrom  to  be  considered  a  theoretical 
discoverer  of  the  sources  of  the  Nile."  After  stating  sev- 
eral instances  in  which  his  positions  had  been  unwarrant- 
ably changed,  he  says,  "The  desecration  nry  positions 
have  suffered  is  probably  unknown  to  the  council ;  but 
that  is  all  the  more  reason  why  I  should  adhere  to  my  res- 


248  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


olution  to  be  the  guardian  of  my  own  observations  until 
publication.  I  regret  this,  because  the  upsetting  of  a 
canoe,  or  airy  accident  happening  to  me,  might  lead  to  the 
entire  loss  of  the  discoveries.  My  borrowed  paper  is  done, 
or  I  should  have  given  a  summary  of  the  streams,  which, 
flowing  into  Chambeze,  Luapula,  Lualaba,  and  the  lakes, 
may  be  called  sources.  Thirteen,  all  larger  than  the  Isis 
at  Oxford,  or  the  Avon  at  Hamilton,  run  into  one  line 
of  drainage,  five  into  another,  and  five  into  a  third  re- 
ceptacle, —  twenty-three  in  all.  Not  having  seen  the  Nile 
in  the  north,  I  forbear  any  comparison  of  volume." 

In  a  postscript  he  says,  "  Always  something  new  from 
Africa.  A  large  tribe  live  in  underground  houses  in  Rua. 
Some  excavations  are  said  to  be  thirty  miles  long,  and 
have  running  rills  in  them.  A  whole  district  can  stand  a 
siege  in  them.  The  6  writings '  thereon,  I  have  been  told 
by  some  of  the  people,  are  drawings  of  animals,  and  not 
letters,  otherwise  I  should  have  gone  to  see  them  :  people 
Yery  dark,  well  made,  and  outer  angle  of  eyes  slanting 
inwards."  That  Dr.  Livingstone  should  have  been  able 
to  write  a  communication  such  as  this,  bristling  .with  facts 
carefully  detailed,  under  the  circumstances  indicated,  is 
as  wonderful  as  the  resolute  endurance  and  courage  neces- 
sary to  their  collection. 

The  next  information  received  from  Dr.  Livingstone 
was  contained  in  a  letter  sent  to  Dr.  Kirk  at  Zanzibar, 
and  was  published  in  "The  Times"  of  Dec.  13,  1869. 
It  is  dated  Ujiji,  May  30,  1869,  and  is  as  follows: 
u  This  note  goes  by  Musa  Kamaals,  who  was  employed  by 
Koarji  to  drive  the  buffaloes  hither ;  but  by  over-driving 
them  unmercifully  in  the  sun,  and  tying  them  up  to  save 
trouble  in  herding,  they  all  died  before  he  got  to  Unyan- 
yembe.    He  witnessed  the  plundering  of  my  goods,  and 


LETTERS  DESTROYED. 


249 


got  a  share  of  them ;  and  I  have  given  him  beads  and 
cloth  sufficient  to  buy  provisions  for  himself  on  the  way 
back  to  Zanzibar.  He  has  done  nothing  here.  He 
neither  went  near  the  goods  here,  nor  tried  to  prevent 
them  being  stolen  on  the  way.  I  suppose  that  pay  foi 
four  months  in  coming,  other  four  of  rest,  and  four  in 
going  back,  would  be  ample  ;  but  I  leave  this  to  your  de- 
cision. I  could  not.  employ  him  to  carry  my  mail  back, 
nor  can  I  say  any  thing  to  him  ;  for  he  at  once  goes  to  the 
Ujijians,  and  gives  his  own  version  of  all  he  hears.  He 
is  untruthful  and  ill-conditioned,  and  would  hand  o^er 
the  mail  to  any  one  who  wished  to  destroy  it.  The  people 
here  are  like  the  Kilwa  traders,  haters  of  the  English. 
Those  Zanzibar  men  whom  I  met  between  this  and  Nyassa 
were  gentlemen,  and  traded  with  honor.  Here,  as  in  the 
haunts  of  the  Kilwa  hordes,  slavery  is  a  source  of  forays, 
and  they  dread  exposure  by  my  letters.  No  one  will  take 
charge  of  them.  I  have  got  Thani  bin  Suelim  to  take  a 
mail  privately  for  transmission  to  Unyanyembe.  It  con- 
tains a  check  on  Ritchio,  Stewart,  &  Co.,  of  Bombay,  for 
two  thousand  rupees,  and  some  forty  letters  written  dur- 
ing my  slow  recovery.  I  fear  it  may  never  reach  you. 
A  party  was  sent  to  the  coast  two  months  ago.  One  man 
volunteered  to  take  a  letter  secretly ;  but  his  master 
warned  them  all  not  to  do  so,  because  I  might  write  some- 
thing he  did  not  like.  He  went  out  with  the  party,  and 
gave  orders  to  the  head  man  to  destroy  any  letters  he 
might  detect  on  the  way.  Thus,  though  I  am  good  friends 
outwardly  with  them  all,  I  can  get  no  assistance  in  pro- 
curing carriers  ;  and,  as  you  will  see  if  the  mail  comes  to 
hand,  I  sent  to  Zanzibar  for  fifteen  good  boatmen  to  act 
as  carriers  if  required,  eighty  pieces  of  meritano,  forty 
pieces  of  kinitra,  twelve  farasales  of  the  beads  called  ja- 


250 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  LL.D. 


sain*  shoes,  &c.  I  have  written  to  Seyd  Majid,  begging 
two  of  his  guards  to  see  to  the  safety  of  the  goods  here 
into  Thani  bin  Suelim's  hands,  or  into  those  of  Mo- 
hammed bin  Sahib. 

"  As  to  the  work  done  by  me,  it  is  only  to  connect  the 
sources  which  I  have  discovered,  from  five  hundred  to 
seven  hundred  miles  south  of  Speke  and  Baker,  with  their 
Nile.  The  volume  of  water  which  flows  from  latitude 
120°  south  is  so  large,  I  suspect  I  have  been  working  at 
the  sources  of  the  Congo  as  well  as  those  of  the  Nile.  I 
have  to  go  down  the  eastern  line  of  drainage  to  Baker's 
turning-point.  Tanganyika,  Ujiji,  Chowambe  (Baker's), 
are  one  water  ;  and  the  head  of  it  is  three  hundred  miles 
south  of  this.  The  western  and  central  lines  of  drainage 
converge  into  an  unvisited  lake  west  or  south-west  of  this. 
The  outflow  of  this,  whether  to  Congo  or  Nile,  I  have  to 
ascertain.  The  people  of  this  district,  called  Many  em  a, 
are  cannibals,  if  Arabs  speak  truly.  I  may  have  to  go 
there  first,  and  down  Tanganyika.  If  I  come  out  uneaten, 
and  find  my  new  squad  from  Zanzibar,  I  earnestly  hope 
that  you  will  do  what  you  can  to  help  me  with  the  goods 
and  men.  Four  hundred  pounds  to  be  sent  by  Mr.  Young 
must  surety  have  come  to  you  through  Fleming  Brothers. 
A  long  box  paid  for  to  Ujiji  was  left  at  Unyanyembe,  and 
so  with  other  boxes." 

In  this  letter  we  have  the  first  indications  of  dissatis- 
faction with  the  waj^  assistance  was  being  sent  to  him  by 
Dr.  Kirk  at  Zanzibar,  of  which  we  have  heard  more  from 
Mr.  Stanley  and  from  the  traveller  himself.  It  was  nat- 
ural that  the  lonely  man,  who  had  not  any  communication 
with  the  world  for  so  long  a  period,  and  who  had  been 
travelling  in  unknown  regions  dependent  upon  chance  for 
the  necessities  of  living,  should  feel  a  bitterness  at  the 


ANXIETY  ABOUT  HIM. 


2oi 


want  of  success  in  relieving  him.  That  he  misjudged  his 
old  and  tried  friend,  Dr.  Kirk,  he  himself  will  be  glad  to 
acknowledge  when  he  knows  the  circumstances,  we  may 
feel  assured.  Dr.  Kirk  mentions,  in  a  note  published 
along  with  this  letter,  that  stores  and  letters  had  been 
sent  on  the  7th  of  October,  and  that  no  time  would  be 
lost  in  sending  the  articles  now  required  by  the  explorer. 
To  the  unsettled  state  of  the  country,  and  the  dishonesty 
and  carelessness  of  the  people  he  was  compelled  to  employ 
to  succor  Dr.  Livingstone,  are  due  the  failure  of  these 
efforts,  and  not  to  any  neglect  on  the  part  of  Dr.  Kirk. 

Once  more  the  cloud  of  mystery  and  darkness  enveloped 
the  fate  of  the  great  traveller ;  and  surmises  and  reports 
as  to  his  probable  fate  tended  toward  a  general  belief,  that, 
in  some  unknown  region  in  the  far  interior,  the  greatest 
traveller  and  discoverer  the  world  has  ever  seen  had 
become  the  most  distinguished  of  that  long  roil  of  mar- 
tyrs who  had  perished  in  their  dauntless  endeavor  to  pene- 
trate the  secret  recesses  of  a  country  all  but  impregnably 
guarded  by  disease,  pestilence,  and  the  cruel  jealousy 
of  savage  tribes.  The  anxiety  of  the  public  regarding  the 
fate  of  the  traveller  was  shared  in  by  the  government.  In 
Majf,  1870,  a  thousand  pounds  was  sent  to  the  consul  at 
Zanzibar,  to  be  expended  in  efforts  to  discover  and  relieve 
him.  On  the  25th  of  January,  1871,  hope  was  again  ex- 
cited that  we  might  soon  hear  tidings  from  himself  of  a 
much  later  date  than  the  last  received,  b}T  the  arrival  of  a 
letter  to  Sir  Roderick  Murchison,  from  Dr.  Kirk,  giving  ex- 
tracts of  a  letter  received  from  an  Arab  chief,  Sheik  Said, 
of  Unyanyembe,  dated  July  16,  1870.  The  chief  says, 
"  Your  honored  letter  has  reached,  and  your  friend  (Liv- 
ingstone) has  understood  it.  The  people  (a  party  with  a 
caravan  from  Zanzibar)  arrived  in  good  health,  and  are 


252  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


going  on  to  Ujiji  to  our  friend  the  doctor.  The  news  of 
him  is  that  he  has  not  yet  returned  from  Manemis  (Me- 
nama,  or  Manyema :  the  Arabic  word  is  spelt  in  three 
different  ways)  ;  but  we  expect  him  soon,  and  probably  he 
and  the  people  with  supplies  will  reach  Ujiji  at  the  same 
time."  As  Sir  Roderick  pointed  out,  this  was  the  first 
indication  we  had  received  that  the  explorer  had  made  a 
lengthened  journey  to  the  west  of  Tanganyika ;  which, 
taken  together  with  the  probabilit}T  that  letters  sent  by 
him  had  been  destroyed  by  jealous  Arabs,  accounted  for 
his  long  silence. 

Early  in  May,  this  intelligence  was  corroborated  by  the 
arrival  of  news  from  Shirif  Bassheikh  bin  Ahmed,  the 
Arab  sent  from  Zanzibar  and  Ujiji  in  charge  of  stores 
for  Dr.  Livingstone,  dated  Nov.  15,  1870,  that  he  had 
been  visited  a  few  days  previously  by  a  messenger  from 
the  people  of  Menama  (or  Manyema) ,  with  letters  from 
the  Arabs  staying  there,  and  one  from  "  the  doctor ;  "  the 
letters  being  dated  Oct.  15.  The  messenger  had  told 
him  that  the  doctor  was  well,  although  he  had  been  suffer- 
ing, and  that  he  was  at  the  town  of  Manakosa,  with 
Mohammed  bin  Tharib,  waiting  for  the  caravans,  being 
himself  without  means,  and  with  few  followers,  only 
eight  men,  so  that  he  could  not  move  elsewhere,  or  come 
down  to  Ujiji.  Shirif  further  stated  that  he  had  sent 
twelve  men,  with  a  quantity  of  goods,  ammunition,  qui- 
nine, &c,  on  to  him,  and  that  he  awaited  the  explorer's 
further  orders  at  Ujiji. 

The  intelligence  that  a  war  had  broken  out  between  the 
Arab  colon}7"  in  the  district  of  Unyanyembe,  and  a  power- 
ful native  chief  between  Ujiji  and  Kasagne,  vhich  was 
being  carried  on  with  the  utmost  fury  on  both  sides,  and 
effectually  closed  up  the  road  to  the  coast,  added  to  the 


FIRST  MENTION  OF  MR.  STANLEY.  253 

public  anxiety.  For  the  first  time  since  his  departure  on 
his  adventurous  mission,  in  February,  we  have  the  men- 
tion of  the  name  of  a  young  gentleman,  a  Mr.  Stanley,  a 
correspondent  of  "  The  New-York  Herald,"  who  had  been 
despatched  by  the  proprietor  of  that  great  journal  from 
Paris,  with  orders  to  find  out  Dr.  Livingstone,  or  bring 
back  tidings  of  his  safety  or  death,  at  whatever  cost.  In 
a  letter  to  Earl  Granville,  dated  Zanzibar,  22d  September, 
1871,  Dr.  Kirk  says, — 

"  Letters  just  received  by  special  messengers,  who  left 
Unyanyembe  about  a  month  ago,  inform  us  of  a  sad 
disaster  that  has  befallen  the  Arab  settlement  there,  and 
that  will  in  all  likelihood  stop  the  road  to  Ujiji  and  Ka- 
sagne  for  some  time  to  come.  All  accounts  agree  as  to 
the  main  facts ;  but  naturally  letters  written  by  Mr. 
Stanley,  an  American  gentleman  who  was  on  the  spot, 
are  the  most  circumstantial  and  reliable.  ...  A  chief 
whose  village  was  one  day's  journey  distance  on  the  main 
road  to  Ujiji  and  Kasagne,  fell  under  the  displeasure  of  the 
Unyanyembe  Arab  settlers ;  and  his  place  was  attacked, 
in  due  course,  by  a  force  of  about  fifteen  hundred  mus- 
kets. Seeing  that  he  could  not  hold  the  blockaded  village, 
he  retired  with  his  followers,  and  formed  an  ambush  for 
the  return  of  the  attacking  party,  when  laden  with  ivory 
and  other  booty.  The  result  was  disastrous  to  the  Arabs  ; 
and  a  great  many  were  killed,  including  ten  or  twenty  of 
the  leaders,  men  of  good  family  here.  The  Arab  retreat 
soon  became  a  rout,  and  much  property  was  lost. 

"  Fortunately,  Mr.  Stanley,  who  was  weak  and  ill  from 
fever,  managed  to  return  to  Unyaiiy embe ;  but  he  was 
abandoned  by  the  Arabs,  whose  conduct  he  speaks  of  as 
cowardly  in  the  extreme."  In  announcing  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Geographical  Society  that  the  council  had 

22 


254  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


determined  to  address  the  Foreign  Office,  asking  its 
assistance  in  an  effort  to  succor  Dr.  Livingstone,  Sir 
Roderick  Murchison  said,  it  appeared  to  the  council 
and  himself  now  that  the  hope  which  we  had  of  communi- 
cating with  Dr.  Livingstone  through  Mr.  Stanley,  the 
American  traveller,  must  for  the  present  be  abandoned ; 
and  it  had  become,  consequently,  their  duty  to  cast  about 
for  some  other  means  of  reaching  him.  We  all  know 
that  the  result  of  the  determination  of  the  Council  of  the 
Royal  Geographical  Society  was  the  getting-up  of  a  for- 
midable expedition  to  march  into  the  interior,  and  find 
news  of  the  great  explorer,  dead  or  alive.  As  the  gov- 
ernment refused  to  advance  any  money  to  assist  in  cover- 
ing the  expenses  of  the  expedition,  it  was  left  for  the 
society  and  the  public  to  furnish  the  means  ;  and  within  a 
few  weeks  ample  funds,  and  an  efficient  party,  were  read}' 
to  start  for  Africa. 

Early  in  1872,  this  expedition  was  being  organized  at 
Zanzibar,  under  the  guidance  of  Lieut.  Dawson,  who 
was  assisted  by  Lieut.  Henn,  Mr.  New  (a  missionar}^) , 
and  Mr.  Oswell  Livingstone,  a  son  of  the  great  explorer. 
As  the  public  felt  satisfied  with  the  zeal  and  abilities  of 
the  English  heads  of  the  Search  and  Relief  Expedition, 
the  public  excitement  subsided.  No  one  appeared  to 
hope  for  any  thing  from  the  expedition  sent  out  by  the 
proprietors  of  u  The  New-York  Herald;"  and  gradually 
its  existence  came  to  be  overlooked  or  forgotten.  Even 
Dr.  Kirk,  who  had  opportunities  of  seeing  its  leader,  and 
his  careful  preparations,  never  dreamed  that  Livingstone 
would  ever  be  heard  of  through  his  exertions. 

Meantime  the  indefatigable  Mr.  Stanley  was  fulfilling 
the  duty  intrusted  to  him,  with  a  zeal  and  determination 
which  nothing  could  conquer.    We  have  heard  how  he 


DOINGS  OF  MR.  STANLEY. 


255 


was  stopped,  in  his  forward  course  to  Ujiji,  by  a  war  which 
had  broken  out  between  the  Arab  settlers  of  Unyanyembe 
and  a  powerful  chief  named  Mirambo,  whose  country  lay 
in  the  direct  line  of  march  from  Unyanyembe  to  Ujiji. 
Mr.  Stanley  and  his  native  soldiers  took  part  in  the  war 
for  a  time,  until  he  found,  that  from  the  cowardice  of  the 
Arabs,  and  their  foolish  method  of  fighting  an  astute  and 
wary  foe,  the  safety  of  his  expedition  w^as  in  danger,  and 
that,  even  if  the  Arabs  succeeded  in  conquering  Mirambo, 
to  await  this  would  occasion  the  loss  of  months  of  valu- 
able time.  He  determined  on  at  once  proceeding  on  his 
journey,  after  getting  his  people  together  with  great  diffi- 
culty, as  they  had  been  completely  demoralized  by  the 
dreadful  slaughter  of  the  Arabs  by  Mirambo,  through  the 
ambush  he  had  laid  for  them,  already  alluded  to  in  Dr. 
Kirk's  letter  to  Lord  Granville.  After  several  days' 
march,  he  reached  Kwihara  ;  and  as  the  country  swarmed 
with  fugitives,  who  reported  that  Mirambo  was  thundering 
in  their  rear,  threatening  the  whole  country  with  fire  and 
sword,  Mr.  Stanley  thought  the  time  had  come  when  he 
must  prepare  for  the  worst.  He  says,  "First  of  all,  a 
lofty  bamboo  was  procured,  and  planted  on  the  roof  of 
our  fortlet ;  and  the  American  flag  was  run  up,  where  it 
waved  joyously  and  grandly,  an  omen  to  all  fugitives  and 
their  hunters.  Then  began  the  work  of  ditch-making  and 
digging  rifle-pits  all  around  the  court  or  enclosure.  The 
strong  clay  walls  were  pierced  in  two  rows  for  the  mus- 
kets ;  the  great  door  was  kept  open,  with  materials  ready 
close  at  hand  to  barricade  it  when  the  enemy  came  in 
sight ;  watchmen  were  posted  on  top  of  the  house  ;  every 
pot  in  the  house  was  filled  with  water ;  provisions  were 
collected  sufficient  to  stand  a  siege  of  a  month's  duration ; 
the  ammunition  boxes  were  unscrewed,  and  when  I  saw 


256  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


the  three  thousand  bright  metallic  cartridges  for  the 
American  carbines,  I  laughed  within  myself  at  the  idea, 
that,  after  all,  Mirambo  might  be  settled  with  American 
lead,  and  all  this  furor  of  war  be  ended  without  much 
trouble. 

"Before  six,  p.m.,  I  had  a  hundred  and  twent3r-five 
muskets  and  stout  fellows  who  had  enlisted  from  the 
fugitives  ;  and  the  house,  which  only  looked  like  a  fortlet 
at  first,  became  a  fortlet  in  reality,  impregnable  and 
untakable.  All  night  we  stood  guard ;  the  suburbs  of 
Tabora  were  in  flames ;  all  the  Wanganmezi  and  Wan- 
guana  houses  were  destroyed ;  and  the  fine  house  of 
Abid-bin-Sulermain  had  been  ransacked,  and  then  com- 
mitted to  the  flames.  Mirambo  boasted  that  'to-morrow* 
Kwihara  should  share  the  fate  of  Tabora ;  and  there 
was  a  rumor  that  that  night  the  Arabs  were  going 
to  start  for  the  coast.  But  the  morning  came,  and 
Mirambo  departed,  with  the  ivory  and  cattle  he  had  cap- 
tured ;  and  the  people  of  Kwihara  and  Tabora  breathed 
freer.  And  now  I  am  going  to  say  farewell  to  Unyan- 
3^embe  for  a  while.  I  shall  never  help  an  Arab  again.  He 
is  no  fighting  man ;  or,  I  should  say,  does  not  know  how 
to  fight,  but  knows  personally  how  to  die.  They  will  not 
conquer  Mirambo  within  a  year,  and  I  cannot  stop  to  see 
that  play  out.  There  is  a  good  old  man  waiting  for  me 
somewhere,  and  that  impels  me  on.  There  is  a  journal 
afar  off  that  expects  me  to  do  my  clmy,  and  I  must  do  it. 
Goocl-by.  I  am  off  the  day  after  to-morrow  for  Ujiji, 
then  perhaps  to  the  Congo  River." 

Clearly  here  was  a  man  who  was  not  to  be  turned  aside 
from  his  purpose  on  small  or  even  great  occasion.  He 
had  been  sent  to  find  Livingstone ;  and  find  him  he  had 
determined  upon,  if  he  was  alive.    When  Mr.  Stanley 


MONOTONY  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 


257 


arrived  at  his  next  camping-ground,  Mkwenkwe,  he 
found  that  his  attendants,  who  had  gone  before  to  make 
preparations,  had  deserted  in  a  body,  and  returned  to 
Kwihara.  To  make  matters  worse,  he  was  suffering  from 
fever.  The  awkward  position  in  wThich  he  found  himself 
roused  his  indomitable  pluck,  and  enabled  him  to  throw 
off  the  fever  which  oppressed  him ;  and,  the  men  who 
stood  true  to  him  having  collected  the  scattered  fugitives, 
after  a  couple  of  days'  rest  he  continued  his  march.  Alter 
reaching  Kasegera,  two  of  his  followers  deserted.  When 
brought  back,  he  had  them  tied  up  and  flogged,  and  then 
fastened  them  together  with  a  chain.  This  mode  of  treat- 
ment he  found  to  be  quite  successful  in  quelling  insubor- 
dination. He  says  in  regard  to  it,  "I  was  determined  to 
try  a  new  method,  not  having  the  fear  of  Exeter  Hall 
before  my  eyes  ;  and  I  am  happy  to  say  to-day,  for  the 
benefit  of  all  future  travellers,  that  it  is  the  best  method 
yet  adopted,  and  that  I  will  never  tread  in  Africa  again 
without  a  good  long  chain.  A  few  days  after  this,  Shaw 
the  Englishman  broke  down,  partly  from  illness  and 
partly  from  fear,  and  was  sent  back  to  Unyanyembe." 

The  following  extract  gives  a  graphic  picture  of  the 
countiy  he  was  marching  through:  "We  were  about 
entering  the  immense  forest  that  separates  IJiryanyembe 
from  the  district  of  Ugunda.  In  lengthy  undulating 
Tvaves  the  land  stretched  before  us,  —  the  new  land  which 
no  European  knew  ;  the  unknown,  mystic  land.  The  view 
which  the  eyes  hurry  to  embrace,  as  we  ascend  some  ridge 
higher  than  another,  is  one  of  the  most  disheartening 
which  can  be  conceived.  Away,  one  be3^ond  another, 
were  the  lengthy  rectilinear  ridges  clad  in  the  same  garb, 
— woods,  woods,  woods  ;  forests,  leafy  branches,  green 
and  yellow,  and  dark-red  and  purple,  then  an  undefinable 

22* 


258  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


ocean  bluer  than  the  bluest  sky.  The  horizon  all  round 
shows  the  same  scene,  —  a  sky  dropping  into  the  depths  of 
the  endless  forest,  with  but  two  or  three  tall  giants  of  the 
forest,  higher  than  their  neighbors,  which  are  conspicuous 
in  their  outlines,  to  break  the  monotony  of  the  scene.  On 
no  one  point  do  our  eyes  rest  with  pleasure  ;  they  have 
viewed  the  same  outlines,  the  same  forest,  and  the  same 
horizon,  day  after  day,  week  after  week ;  and  again,  like 
Noah's  clove,  from  wandering  over  a  world  without  a 
halting-place,  return  wearied  with  the  search." 

At  Ugunda  Mr.  Stanley  had  an  interview  with  a 
friendly  chief,  Mamanyara,  "a  tall,  stalwart  man,  with  a 
pleasing  face.  He  carried  in  his  hand  a  couple  of  spears  ; 
and,  with  the  exception  of  a  well-worn  barsati  round  his 
loins,  he  was  naked.  Three  of  his  principal  men  and 
himself  were  invited  to  seat  themselves  on  my  Persian 
carpet.  They  began  to  admire  it  excessively,  and  asked 
if  it  came  from  my  country.  Where  was  my  country? 
Was  it  large?  How  many  days  to  it?  Was  I  a  king? 
Had  I  many  soldiers  ?  were  questions  quickly  asked,  and 
as  quickly  answered ;  and  the  ice  being  broken,  the  chief 
being  as  candid  as  I  was  myself,  he  grasped  my  forefinger 
and  middle  fingers,  and  vowed  we  were  friends.  The 
revolvers,  and  Winchester's  repeating  rifle,  were  things  so 
wonderful,  that  to  attempt  to  give  you  any  idea  of  how 
awe-struck  he  and  his  were  would  task  my  powers.  The 
chief  roared  with  laughter ;  he  tickled  his  men  in  the  ribs 
with  his  forefinger ;  he  clasped  their  fore  and  middle 
fingers,  vowed  that  the  Musungu  (white  man)  was  a  won- 
der, a  marvel,  and  no  mistake.  Did  the}'  ever  see  any 
thing  like  it  before?  'No,'  as  solemnly  as  before.  Is  he 
not  a  wonder?    Quite  a  wonder, — positively  a  wonder." 

Pushing  onwards,  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  the 


THE  HONEY-BIRD. 


253 


honej^-bird,  and  while  in  timbered  country  never  lacked 
the  agreeable  addition  of  honey  to  their  meals.  The 
honey-bird  "  is  a  pretty  bird,  not  much  larger  than  a 
wren.  When  it  sees  a  human  being,  it  becomes  very  busy 
all  at  once,  hops  and  skips,  and  flies  from  branch  to 
branch  with  marvellous  celerity.  The  traveller  lifts  up 
his  eyes,  beholds  the  tiny  little  bird  hopping  about,  and 
hears  its  sweet  call,  c  Sweet,  sweet,  sweet ! '  If  he  is  a 
Wokonongo  (a  native  tribe  given  to  honey-hunting) ,  he 
follows  it.  Away  flies  the  bird  on  to  another  tree,  thep 
springs  to  another  branch  nearer  to  the  begging  man, 
as  if  to  say,  4  Shall  I,  must  I,  come  and  fetch  you?' 
Another,  assured  by  the  advance  of  its  friend,  rushes  off 
to  another  tree,  coquets  about,  and  sweets  his  call  rapidly, 
sometimes  more  earnest  and  loud,  as  if  chiding  the  trav- 
eller for  being  so  slow ;  and  so  on,  until  at  last  the 
treasure  is  found  and  secured.  As  the  honey -bird  is  a 
very  busy  little  animal,  while  the  man  secures  his  treasure 
of  honey,  he  holds  himself  ready  for  another  flight,  and 
to  discover  another  treasure." 

The  following  illustrates  the  trouble  he  had  in  maintain- 
ing discipline  among  his  own  followers.  A  man  of  less 
courage  and  nerve  must  either  have  laid  down  his  life 
there  and  then,  or  have  been  compelled  to  abandon  the 
expedition  for  a  time,  if  not  for  altogether.  Three  hours' 
journey  from  the  banks  of  the  G-ombe,  where  they  had 
rested  for  three  da}rs,  his  men  halted,  and  refused  to  pro- 
ceed. The  rapid  marching  was  beginning  to  tell  upon 
them ;  and  they  wished  to  remain  encamped  several  days, 
where,  from  the  quantity  of  game  about,  they  could  rest, 
and  enjoy  abundance.  Ever  since  he  had  left  Kwihara, 
Stanley  had  been  possessed  by  a  feverish  eagerness  to 
push  forward,  and  was,  in  consequence,  in  no  mood  to  sub 


260  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


unit  to  any  needless  detention.    We  will  let  Mm  tell  what 

happened  in  his  own  words  :  — 

"As  I  was  walking  up  to  see  what  was  the  matter,  I 
saw  the  guide  and  his  brother  sitting  on  an  ant-hill,  apart 
from  the  other  people,  fingering  their  guns  in  what 
appeared  to  be  a  most  suspicious  manner.  Calling  Selim, 
I  took  the  double-barrelled  smooth-bore,  and  slipped  in 
two  charges  of  buckshot,  and  then  walked  on  to  my 
people,  keeping  an  eye,  however,  upon  the  guide  and  his 
brother.  I  asked  Bombay  to  give  me  an  explanation  of  the 
stoppage.  He  would  not  answer ;  though  he  mumbled 
something  sullenly,  which  was  unintelligible  to  me.  I 
looked  on  the  other  people,  and  perceived  that  they  acted 
in  an  irresolute  manner,  as  if  they  feared  to  take  my 
part,  or  were  of  the  same  mood  as  the  party  on  the  ant- 
hill. I  was  but  thirty  paces  from  the  guide  ;  and,  throw- 
ing the  barrel  of  the  gun  into  the  hollow  of  my  left  hand, 
I  presented  it  cocked  at  the  guide,  and  called  out  to  him, 
if  he  did  not  come  to  me  at  once  I  would  shoot  him ; 
giving  him  and  his  companions  to  understand  that  I  had 
twenty-four  small  bullets  in  the  gun,  and  that  I  could 
blow  them  to  pieces.  In  a  very  reluctant  manner  they 
advanced  towards  me.  When  they  were  sufficiently  near, 
I  ordered  them  to  halt ;  but  the  guide,  as  he  did  so, 
brought  his  gun  to  the  present,  with  his  finger  on  the 
trigger  ;  and,  with  a  treacherous  and  cunning  smile  which 
I  perfectly  understood,  he  asked  what  I  wanted  of  him. 
His  companion,  while  he  was  speaking,  was  sidling  to  my 
rear,  and  was  impudently  engaged  in  filling  the  pan  of  his 
musket  with  powder  ;  but  a  threat  to  finish  him  if  he  did 
not  go  back  to  his  companion,  and  there  stand  till  I  gave 
him  permission  to  move,  compelled  this  villanous  Ther- 
site  to  execute  the  '  right  about '  with  a  promptitude 


A  MUTINY  QUELLED. 


261 


which  caused  commendation  from  me.  Then,  facing  my 
Ajax  of  a  guide  with  my  gun,  I  next  requested  him  to 
]ower  his  gun  if  he  did  not  wish  to  receive  the  contents 
of  mine  in  his  head ;  and  I  do  not  know  but  what  the 
terrible  catastrophe,  warranted  by  stern  necessity,  had 
occurred  then  and  there,  if  Mabruki  (bull-headed  Ma- 
bruki,  but  my  faithful  porter  and  faithfullest  soldier)  had 
not  dashed  the  man's  gun  aside,  asking  him  how  he  dared 
level  his  gun  at  his  master,  and  then,  throwing  himself  at 
my  feet,  praj^ed  me  to  forgive  him.  .  .  .  When  Ma- 
bruki's  pra}rer  for  forgiveness  was  seconded  by  that  of  the 
principal  culprit  that  I  would  overlook  his  offence,  I  was 
able  to  act  as  became  a  prudent  commander,  though  I  felt 
some  remorse  that  I  had  not  availed  myself  of  the  oppor- 
tunity to  punish  the  guide  and  his  companion  as  they 
eminently  deserved.  .  .  .  However,  as  Bombay  could 
not  bend  himself  to  ask  forgiveness,  I  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  it  were  best  he  should  be  made  to  feel  the 
penalty  of  stirring  dissensions  in  the  expedition,  and  be 
brought  to  look  with  a  more  amiable  face  upon  the  scheme 
of  proceeding  to  Ujiji  through  Ukonongo  and  Ukawendi ; 
and  I  at  once  proceeded  about  it  with  such  vigor,  that 
Bombay's  back  will  for  as  long  a  time  bear  traces  of  the 
punishment  which  I  administered  to  him,  as  his  front 
teeth  do  of  that  which  Speke  (he  had  been  a  servant  of 
Speke's)  rightfully  bestowed  on  him  some  eleven  years 
ago." 

After  a  time  the  character  of  the  scenery  changed  ;  and 
this,  together  with  the  rapid  movement,  and  the  almost 
certainty  that  Lake  Tanganyika  would  be  speedily 
reached,  had  the  effect  of  raising  the  spirits  of  every 
member  of  the  expedition.  This  is  his  description  of  the 
country  within  fourteen  days  of  the  great  lake,  on  whose 
shore  he  hoped  to  find  the  object  of  his  search :  — 


262  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


"  Here  and  there  were  upheaved  above  the  tree-tops 
sugar-loaf  hills ;  and  darkly  blue,  west  of  us,  loomed  a 
noble  ridge  of  hills  which  formed  the  boundary  between 
Kamiramba's  territory  and  that  of  Utendi.  Elephant- 
tracks  became  numerous,  and  buffalo  met  the  delighted 
eyes  everywhere.  Crossing  the  mountainous  ridge  of 
Mivara,  with  its  lengthy  slope  slowly  declining  westward, 
the  vegetation  became  more  varied,  and  the  outlines  of 
the  land  before  us  more  picturesque.  We  grew  satiated 
with  the  varieties  of  novel  fruit  which  w^e  saw  hanging 
thickly  on  the  trees.  There  was  the  mbember,  with  the 
taste  of  an  over-ripe  peach  ;  the  tamarind  pod  and  beans 
with  their  grateful  acidity,  resembling  somewhat  the 
lemon  in  their  flavor ;  the  matonga,  or  nux  vomica,  was 
welcome ;  and  the  luscious  singive,  the  plum  of  Africa, 
was  most  delicious  of  all.  There  were  wild  plums  like 
our  own,  and  grapes  unpicked,  long  past  their  season,  and 
beyond  eating. 

"  Guinea-fowl,  the  moor-hen,  ptarmigan,  and  ducks, 
supplied  our  tables ;  and  often  the  hump  of  a  buffalo,  or 
an  extravagant  piece  of  venison,  filled  our  camp-kettles. 
My  health  was  firmly  re-established.  The  faster  we  pros- 
ecuted our  journey,  the  better  I  felt.  I  had  long  bidden 
adieu  to  the  nauseous  calomel  and  rhubarb  compounds, 
and  had  become  quite  a  stranger  to  quinine." 

Pushing  onwards,  their  proximity  to  the  Tanganyika 
Lake  was  evident  from  the  number  of  streams  all  trending 
towards  that  goal  of  their  hopes.  The  neighborhood  of 
these  streams  was  thickly  covered  with  brushwood  ;  and 
the  vicinity  of  these  was  dreaded  b}'  his  followers,  and 
not  without  cause.  He  says,  u  The  undergrowth  of 
bushes  and  tall  grass,  dense  and  impenetrable,  likely 
resorts  of  leopard,  lion,  and  wild  boar,  were  enough  to 


SCENERY  OF  UK  A  WEND  I, 


263 


appal  the  stoutest  heart.  One  of  my  donkeys,  while 
being  driven  to  water  along  a  narrow  path  edged  by  the 
awesome  brake  on  either  side,  was  attacked  by  a  leopard, 
which  fastened  its  fangs  in  the  poor  animal's  neck ;  and 
it  would  have  made  short  work  of  it,  had  not  its  com- 
panions set  up  a  bra}ing  chorus  that  might  well  have 
terrified  a  score  of  leopards.  And  that  same  night,  while 
encamped  contiguous  to  the  limpid  stream  of  Mtambu, 
with  that  lofty  line  of  enormous  trees  rising  dark  and 
awful  above  us,  the  lions  issued  from  the  brakes  beneath, 
and  prowled  about  a  well-set  bush  defence  of  our  camp, 
venting  their  fearful  clamor  without  intermission  until 
morning." 

He  has  a  different  story  to  tell  of  the  southern  portion 
of  the  same  region.  He  says,  "  The  fairest  of  Califor- 
nian  scenery  cannot  excel,  though  it  may  equal,  such 
scenes  as  Ukawendi  can  boast  of ;  and  yet  a  land  as  large 
as  the  State  of  New  York  is  almost  uninhabited.  Days 
and  days  one  ma}'  travel  through  primeval  forests  ;  now 
ascending  ridges  overlooking  broad,  well-watered  valle}'s, 
with  belts  of  valuable  timber  crowning  the  banks  of  the 
river,  and  behold  exquisite  bits  of  scenery,  wild,  fan- 
tastic, picturesque,  and  pretty,  all  within  the  scope  of 
vision,  whichever  way  one  may  turn.  And,  to  crown  the 
glories  of  this  lovely  portion  of  earth,  underneath  the  sur- 
face but  a  few  feet,  is  one  mass  of  iron-ore,  extending 
across  three  degrees  of  longitude,  and  nearly  four  of  lati- 
tude, cropping  out  at  intervals,  so  that  the  traveller  can- 
not remain  ignorant  of  the  wealth  lying  beneath. 

"  Ah,  me  !  what  wild  and  ambitious  projects  fill  a  man's 
brain,  as  he  looks  over  the  forgotten  and  unpeopled  coun- 
try, containing  in  its  bosom  such  stores  of  wealth,  and 
with  such  an  expanse  of  fertile  soil  capable  of  sustaining 


264  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


millions  !  What  a  settlement  one  could  have  in  this  val- 
ley  !  See,  it  is  broad  enough  to  support  a  large  popula- 
tion. Fancy  a  church-spire  where  that  tree  rears  its  dark 
crown  of  foliage ;  and  think  how  well  a  score  or  so  of 
pretty  cottages  would  look,  instead  of  those  thorn-clumps 
and  gum-trees. 

"  Fancy  this  lovely  valley  teeming  with  herds  of  cattle, 
and  fields  of  corn  spreading  to  the  right  and  left  of  this 
stream  !  How  much  better  would  such  a  state  of  things 
become  this  valley,  than  the  present  deserted  and  wild 
aspect !  But  be  hopeful :  the  day  will  come,  and  a  future 
}Tear  will  see  it,  when  happier  lands  have  become  crowded, 
and  nations  have  become  so  overgrown,  that  they  have  no 
room  to  turn  about.  It  really  wants  an  Abraham  or  a 
Lot,  an  Alaric  or  an  Attila,  to  lead  their  hosts  to  this 
land  ;  which,  perhaps,  has  been  wisely  reserved  for  such  a 
time." 

Leaving  this  unpeopled  paradise  behind  them,  the  part}' 
had  several  weary  days'  march  over  a  country  as  rocky 
and  sterile  as  the  Sierra  Nevada,  which,  in  its  rocky  hills, 
and  dry,  stony  watercourses,  reminded  Mr.  Stanley  of  the 
country  round  Magdala.  Their  provisions  were  all  but 
exhausted  ;  and  they  were  suffering  from  thirst,  and  foot- 
sore and  weary,  when  they  reached  the  village  of  a  son  of 
the  chief  of  Uzogera,  where  they  were  hospitably  enter- 
tained. From  this  point  the  country  improved  at  every 
step,  although  many  difficulties  had  }ret  to  be  overcome, 
the  principal  of  which  were  the  heavy  tributes  exacted  by 
warlike  chiefs  for  leave  to  pass  through  their  territory. 
Mr.  Stanley's  account  of  a  natural  bridge,  across  which 
the  expedition  passed  with  safety,  cannot  fail  to  be  inter- 
esting. "  Fancy,"  he  sa}^s,  "  a  river  as  broad  as  the 
Hudson  at  Albany,  though  not  near  so  deep  or  swift,  cov- 


A  NAT U HAL  BRIDGE. 


265 


ered  over  with  water-plants  and  grasses,  which  had  be- 
come so  interwoven  and  netted  together,  as  to  form  a 
bridge  covering  its  entire  length  and  breadth,  under  which 
the  river  flowed  calm  and  deep  below.  It  was  over  this 
natural  bridge  we  were  expected  to  cross.  Adding  to  the 
tremor  which  one  naturally  felt  at  having  to  cross  this 
frail  bridge,  was  the  tradition,  that,  only  a  few  yards  higher 
up,  an  Arab  and  his  donkey,  thirty- five  slaves,  and  sixteen 
tusks  of  ivory,  had  been  suddenly  sunk  forever  out  of 
sight.  As  one-half  of  our  column  had  already  arrived  at 
the  centre',  wTe  on  the  shore  could  see  the  outwork  of  grass 
waving  on  either  side,  and  between  each  man ;  in  one 
place  like  the  swell  of  the  sea  after  a  storm,  and  in 
another  like  a  small  lake  violently  ruffled  by  a  squall. 
Hundreds  of  yards  away  from  them,  it  ruffled  and  undu- 
lated, one  wave  after  another.  As  we  all  got  on  it,  we 
perceived  it  to  sink  about  a  foot,  forcing  the  water  on 
which  it  rested  into  the  grassy  channel  formed  by  our 
footsteps.  One  of  m}r  donkeys  broke  through,  and  it  re- 
quired the  united  strength  of  ten  men  to  extricate  him. 
The  aggregate  weight  of  the  donkey  and  men  caused  that 
portion  of  the  bridge  on  which  they  stood  to  sink  about 
two  feet,  and  a  circular  pool  of  water  was  formed.  I  ex- 
pected, every  minute,  to  see  them  suddenly  sink  out  of 
sight.  Fortunately  we  managed  to  cross  the  treacherous 
bridge  without  further  accident." 

At  last  their  eyes  were,  gladdened  by  the  sight  of  the 
broad  and  swift  Malagarazi,  an  influent  of  Lake  Tangan- 
yika. The  goal  was  nearly  won :  a  few  days'  march,  and 
the  mighty  lake  of  Central  Africa  would  be  spread  out 
before  their  gaze.  The  principal  sultan  of  Revinza,  the 
country  bordering  on  the  Malagarazi',  was  Kiala,  the 
eldest  son  of  Uzogera.    The  command  of  the  river  gave 

23 


266  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

him  great  power  as  a  levier  of  blackmail  from  travellers 
passing  through  his  country,  which  he  used  to  the  utmost. 
After  much  higgling,  Stanley  had  to  give  ninety-two  yards 
of  cloth  for  the  privilege  of  passing  through  his  country. 
The  tribute  for  passing  the  river  had  still  to  be  settled, 
and  after  a  long  and  stormy  discussion  this  was  arranged. 
"  Finally,"  he  says,  "seven  doli  (twenty-eight  yards  of 
cloth) ,  and  ten  pounds  of  Sami-Sami  seeds,  were  agreed 
upon  ;  after  which  we  marched  to  the  ferry,  distant  half  a 
mile  from  the  scene  of  so  much  contention.  The  river  at 
this  place  was  not  more  than  thirty  yards  broad,  sluggish, 
and  deep.  Yet  I  would  prefer  attempting  to  cross  the 
Mississippi  by  swimming  rather  than  the  Malagarazi. 
Such  another  river  for  crocodiles,  crocodiles  cruel  as 
death,  I  cannot  conceive.  Their  long,  tapering  heads 
dotted  the  river  everywhere ;  and,  though  I  amused  my- 
self pelting  them  with  two-ounce  balls,  I  made  no  effect 
upon  their  numbers. 

u  Two  canoes  discharged  their  live  cargo  on  the  other 
side  of  the  river,  when  the  story  of  Capt.  Burton's  passage 
across  the  Malagarazi  higher  up  was  brought  vividly  to 
my  mind  by  the  extortions  which  now  commenced.  About 
twenty  or  so  of  the  chiefs  men  had  collected  ;  and,  backed 
by  them,  he  became  insolent.  If  it  were  worth  while  to 
commence  a  struggle  for  two  or  three  more  doli  of  cloth, 
the  mere  firing  of  one  revolver,  at  such  close  quarters, 
would  have  settled  the  day ;  but  I  could  not  induce  my- 
self  to  believe  it  was  the  best  way  of  proceeding,  taking 
in  view  the  object  of  our  expedition.  And  accordingly, 
this  extra  demand  was  settled  at  once,  with  as  much  ami- 
ability as  I  could  muster ;  but  I  warned  him  not  to  repeat 
it ;  and,  to  prevent  him  from  doing  so,  ordered  a  man  to 
each  canoe,  and  to  be  seated  there  with  a  loaded  gun  in 


STANLEY  ARRIVES  AT  UJIJL 


267 


each  man's  hand.  After  this  little  episode  we  got  on  very 
well.  .  .  .  We  then  drove  a  donkey  into  the  river,  having 
first  tied  a  strong  halter  to  his  neck ;  but  he  had  hardly 
reached  the  middle  of  the  river,  when  a  crocodile  beneath 
seized  him  by  the  neck,  and  dragged  him  under,  after  sev- 
eral frantic  but  ineffectual  endeavors  to  draw  him  ashore." 

More  and  yet  more  pillage,  in  name  of  tribute,  had  the 
party  to  undergo,  and  several  days'  hard  and  toilsome 
marching  over  a  rough,  hilly  country.  At  last  they  are  at 
"  the  base  of  a  hill,  from  the  top  of  which  the  Kirangozi 
(a  native  tribe)  said  we  would  obtain  a  view  of  Lake 
Tanganyika.  .  .  .  On  arriving  at  the  top,  we  beheld  it  at 
last  from  the  spot  whence  probably  Burton  and  Speke 
looked  at  it ;  6  the  one  in  a  half-paralyzed  state,  the 
other  almost  blind.'  Indeed,  I  was  placed  at  the  right ; 
and,  as  we  descended,  it  opened  more  and  more  into  view, 
until  it  was  revealed  at  last  into  a  great  inland  sea, 
bounded  westward  by  an  appalling  black-blue  range  of 
mountains,  and  stretching  north  and  south,  without 
bounds,  a  gray  expanse  of  water." 

After  feasting  their  eyes  on  this  longed-for  prospect, 
they  hurry  on  with  eager  footsteps  ;  three  hours  of  rapid 
marching  appearing,  to  their  excited  imaginations,  to 
occupy  only  a  fourth  of  that  time.  The  supreme  moment 
had  come  at  last ;  the  American  flag  is  flung  out  to  the 
breeze ;  muskets  are  loaded  and  fired  olf  in  hot  haste  to 
rouse  the  little  town  of  Ujiji,  which,  as  yet,  knew  nothing 
of  the  strange  and  unexpected  visitors  now  at  its  gates. 
u  The  natives  of  Ujiji,  .  .  .  and  I  know  not  where  else, 
hurry  up  by  the  hundreds  to  ask  what  it  all  means,  this 
fusillading,  shouting,  and  blowing  of  horns,  and  flag- 
flying.  There  are  Yambos  (How  do  you  do's)  shouted 
out  to  me  by  the  dozen ;  and  delighted  Arabs  have  run'  up 


268  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


breathlessly  to  shake  my  hand,  and  ask  anxiously  where  I 
came  from.  But  I  have  no  patience  with  them  ;  the  ex- 
pedition goes  far  too  slow ;  I  should  like  to  settle  the 
vexed  question  by  one  personal  view.  Where  is  he?  Has 
he  fled?  Suddenly  a  man,  a  black  man  at  my  elbow, 
shouts  in  English,  4  How  do  you  do,  sir?  '  — c  Hallo  !  who 
the  deuce  are  you  ? '  —  4 1  am  the  servant  of  Dr.  Living- 
stone,' he  says  ;  but,  before  I  can  ask  any  more  questions, 
he  is  running  like  a  madman  towards  the  town. 

"  We  have  at  last  entered  the  town.  There  are  hun- 
dreds of  people  around  me,  —  I  might  say  thousands, 
without  exaggeration.  It  seems  to  me  it  is  a  great  tri- 
umphal procession..  As  we  move,  they  move :  all  eyes 
are  drawn  towards  us.  The  expedition  at  last  comes  to  a 
halt ;  the  journey  is  ended  for  a  time  ;  but  I  alone  have  a 
few  more  steps  to  make.  There  is  a  group  of  the  most 
respectable  Arabs  ;  and,  as  I  come  nearer,  I  see  the  white 
face  of  an  old  man  among  them.  He  has  a  cap  with  a 
gold  band  around  it ;  his  dress  is  a  short  jacket  of  red 
blanket-cloth ;  and  his  pants  —  well,  I  didn't  observe. 
I  am  shaking  hands  with  him.  We  raise  our  hats  ;  and  I 
say,  6  Dr.  Livingstone.  I  presume?'  and  he  says,  'Yes.* 
Finis  core  nat  opus." 


CHAPTER  XV. 


DR.  LIVINGSTONE  AS  FOUND  BY  MR.  STANLEY.  EXPEDITION 

TO  NORTH    END    OF    LAKE    TANGANYIKA.   ACCOMPANIES 

MR.  STANLEY  TO  UNYANYEMBE.  STANLEY  SENDS  NEWS  OF 

HIS  SUCCESS.  SKETCH  OF  HIS  LIFE. 

i 

The  following  description  of  Dr.  Livingstone,  as  he 
appeared  to  Mr.  Stanley-  at  Ujiji,  will  now  have  an  addi- 
tional interest,  if  that  be  possible,  if  the  heroic  traveller 
is  really  no  more.  He  says,  64  Upon  my  first  introduc- 
tion to  him,  Livingstone  was  to  me  like  a  huge  tome 
with  a  most  unpretending  binding.  Within,  the  work 
might  contain  much  valuable,  lore  and  wisdom  ;  but  its  ex- 
terior gave  no  promise  of  what  was  within.  Thus,  out- 
side, Livingstone  gave  no  token,  except  of  being  rudely 
dealt  with  by  the  wilderness,  of  what  elements  of  power 
or  talent  lay  within.  He  is  a  man  of  unpretending  ap- 
pearance enough,  has  quiet,  composed  features,  from 
which  the  freshness  of  youth  has  quite  departed,  but 
which  retain  the  mobility  of  prime  age,  just  enough  to 
show  that  there  yet  lies  much  endurance  and  vigor  within 
his  frame.  The  eyes,  which  are  hazel,  are  remarkably 
bright,  not  dimmed  in  the  least,  though  the  whiskers  and 
mustache  are  very  gray.  The  hair,  originally  brown,  is 
streaked  here  and  there  with  gray  over  the  temples : 
otherwise  it  might  belong  to  a  man  of  thirty.  The  teeth 
alone  show  indications  of  being  worn  out.  The  hard  fare 
of  Louda  and  Manajenia  have  made  havoc  in  their  rows 

23*  .  269 


270 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


His  form  is  stoutish,  a  little  over  the  ordinary  height, 
with  slightly  bowed  shoulders.  When  walking,  he  has 
the  heavy  step  of  an  overworked  and  fatigued  man.  On 
his  head  he  wears  the  naval  cap,  with  a  round  visor,  with 
which  he  Las  been  identified  throughout  Africa.  His 
dress  shows  that  at  times  he  has  had  to  resort  to  the  needle 
to  repair  and  replace  what  travel  has  worn.  Such  is  Liv- 
ingstone externally. 

.  .  .  "  The  hours  of  that  afternoon. passed  most  pleas- 
antly, —  few  afternoons  of  my  life  more  so.  It  seemed  to 
me  as  if  I  had  met  an  old,  old  friend.  There  was  a 
friendly  or  good-natured  abandon  about  Livingstone, 
which  was  not  lost  on  me.  As  host,  welcoming  one  who 
spoke  his  language,  he  did  his  duties  with  a  spirit  and 
style  I  have  never  seen  elsewhere.  He  had  not  much  to 
offer,  to  be  sure  ;  but  what  he  had  was  mine  and  his.  The 
wan  features,  which  had  shocked  me  at  first  meeting,  the 
heavy  step  which  told  of  age  and  hard  travel,  the  gray 
beard  and  stooping  shoulders,  belied  the  man.  Underneath 
that  aged  and  well-spent  exterior  lay  an  endless  fund  of 
high  spirits,  which  now  and  then  broke  out  in  peals  of 
heart}'  laughter  ;  the  rugged  frame  enclosed  a  very  young 
and  exuberant  soul.  The  meal  —  I  am  not  sure  but 
what  we  ate  three  meals  that  afternoon  —  was  seasoned 
with  innumerable  jokes  and  pleasant  anecdotes,  interest- 
ing hunting  stories,  of  which  his  friends  Webb,  O swell, 
Varden,  and  Gordon  Cumming  were  always  the  chief  actors. 
'You  have  brought  me  new  life,'  he  said  several  times,  so 
that  I  was  not  sure  but  there  was  some  little  hysteria  in 
this  joviality  and  abundant  animal  spirits  ;  but,  as  I  found 
it  continued  during  several  weeks,  I  am  now  disposed  to 
think  it  natural.  .  .  .  Dr.  Livingstone  is  a  truly  pious 
man,  a  man  deeply  imbued  with  real  religious  instincts. 


RELIGIOUS  SERVICES. 


271 


The  stud}-  of  the  man  would  not  be  complete  if  we  did 
not  take  the  religious  side  of  his  character  into  considera- 
tion. His  religion,  an}r  more  than  his  business,  is  not  of 
the  theoretical  kind,  simply  contenting  itself  with  owning 
all  other  religions  as  wrong  or  weak.  It  is  of  the  true, 
practical  kind,  never  losing  a  chance  to  manifest  itself  in 
a  quiet,  practical  way ;  never  demonstrative  or  loud.  It 
is  always  at  work.  It  is  not  aggressive,  which  sometimes 
is  troublesome,  and  often  impertinent.  In  him  religion 
exhibits  its  loveliest  features.  It  governs  his  conduct 
towards  his  servants,  towards  the  natives,  and  towards  the 
bigoted  Mussulmans  even,  —  all  who  come  in  contact 
with  him.  Without  religion,  Livingstone,  with  his  ardent 
temperament,  his  enthusiastic  nature,  his  high  spirit  and 
courage,  might  have  been  an  uncompanionable  man  and 
a  hard  master.  Religion  has  tamed  all  these  character- 
istics ;  nay,  if  he  was  ever  possessed  of  them,  they 
have  been  thoroughly  eradicated.  Whatever  was  crude 
or  wilful,  religion  has  refined,  and  has  made  him  —  to 
speak  the  earnest,  sober  truth  —  the  most  agreeable  of 
companions  and  indulgent  of  masters.  .  .  .  Every  Sun- 
day morning  he  gathers  his  flock  around  him  ;  and  he  has 
pra}^ers  read,  not  in  the  stereotyped  tone  of  an  English 
High-Church  clergyman,  which  always  sounds  in  my  ear 
insincerely,  but  in  the  tone  recommended  by  Archbishop 
Whately,  viz.,  natural,  unaffected,  and  sincere.  Follow- 
ing these,  he  delivers  a  short  address  in  the  Kirawahili  lan- 
guage, about  what  he  has  been  reading  from  the  Bible  to 
them  ;  which  is  listened  to  with  great  attention." 

Mr.  Stanley  staid  with  Livingstone  for  a  considerable 
period ;  and  before  they  left  for  Unyanyembe,  at  which 
place  Dr.  Livingstone  was  to  await  stores  and  assistance 
from  Zanzibar,  they  set  off  for  the  head  of  the  Tanganyika 


272 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE  LL.D. 


to  settle  the  question  as  to  whether  the  Rusizi  is  an  influent 
or  effluent  of  the  lake,  —  a  question  which  was  greatly 
exciting  the  minds  of  geographers  at  home. 

"It  took  us,"  says  Mr.  Stanley,  "ten  clays  hard  pulling 
to  reach  the  head  of  the  lake,  a  distance  of  nearly  a  hun- 
dred geographical  miles  from  Ujiji ;  the  remaining  eight 
we  were  coasting  along  the  bold  shores  of  Uruncli,  which 
gradually  inclined  to  the  eastward ;  the  western  ranges, 
ever  bold  and  high,  looking  like  a  huge  blue-black  barrier 
some  thirty  miles  west  of  us,  to  all  appearance  impene- 
trable and  impassable.  If  the  waters  of  the  Tanganyika 
could  be  drained  out,  and  we  were  to  stand  upon  the 
summit  of  those  great  peaks  which  rise  abruptly  out  of 
the  lake,  a  most  wonderful  scene  would  be  presented  to  us. 
We  should  see  an  extraordinary  deep  chasm,  from  five 
thousand  to  seven  thousand  feet  deep,  with  the  large 
island  Ubuari  rising  like  another  Magdala  from  the  awful 
depths  around  it ;  for  I  think  that  the  greatest  depth  of 
that  lake  is  nearly  three  thousand  feet  deep.  .  .  .  Until 
we  were  close  to  this  brake,  we  could  not  detect  the  slight- 
est opening  for  a  river  such  as  we  imagined  the  Rusizi  to 
be.  We  followed  some  canoes  which  were  disappearing 
mysteriously  and  suspiciously  through  some  gaps  in  the 
dense  brake.  Pulling  boldly  up,  we  found  ourselves  in 
what  afterwards  proved  to  be  the  central  mouth  of  the 
river.  All  doubt  as  to  what  the  Rusizi  was  vanished  at 
once  and  forever  before  that  strong  brown  flood,  which 
tasked  our  exertions  to  the  utmost  as  we  pulled  up.  I 
once  doubted,  as  I  seized  the  oar,  that  we  should  ever  be 
able  to  ascend ;  but,  after  a  hard  quarter  of  an  hour's 
pulling,  the  river  broadened,  and  a  little  higher  up  we  saw 
it  widen  into  lagoons  on  either  side." 

One  of  the  questions  left  for  Livingstone  to  settle  was 


NEWS  OF  HIS  SAFETY. 


273 


the  outlet  from  Tanganyika,  and  whether  it  is,  or  is  not, 
connected  with  the  Nile  drainage  by  some  other  channel. 

After  this  expedition  Stanley,  accompanied  by  Dr. 
Livingstone,  started  on  the  march  back  to  the  coast. 
Dr.  Livingstone,  as  we  have  previously  stated,  was  to 
accompany  him  as  far  as  Unyanyembe,  there  to  await 
stores,  &c,  which  Mr.  Stanley  undertook  to  see  de- 
spatched from  Zanzibar  in  safe  and  competent  custody. 
Livingstone  declined  to  return.  He  said,  "  I  would  like 
very  much  to  go  home  and  see  my  children  once  again ; 
but  I  cannot  bring  my  heart  to  abandon  the  task  I  have 
undertaken  when  it  is  so  nearly  completed.  It  only 
requires  six  or  seven  months  more  to  trace  the  true  source 
that  I  have  discovered  with  Petherick's  branch  of  the 
White  Nile,  or  with  the  Albert  Nyanza  of  Sir  Samuel 
Baker.  Why  should  I  go  home  before  my  task  is  ended, 
to  have  to  come  back  again  to  do  what  I  can  very  well  do 
now?" 

When  Mr.  Stanley  got  within  communicating  distance 
with  the  coast,  the  intelligence  he  had  to  give  of  his 
doings  was  as  startling  as  it  was  unexpected. 

It  was  on  the  3d  of  July,  1872,  the  civilized  world  was 
startled  by  news  of  the  finding  of  Livingstone  at  Ujiji, — 
the  place  to  which  so  many  caravans  and  messengers  had 
been  sent  from  Zanzibar,  with  results  as  to  the  succor  of 
the  great  traveller,  as  we  had  too  good  reason  to  fear,  of 
a  very  ineffectual  description.  In  addition  to  the  assur- 
ance of.  his  being  alive,  we  had  news  of  his  having  been 
in  the  far  west  among  friendly  tribes,  exploring  the  west- 
ern division  of  the  great  watershed  of  Central  Africa,  of 
the  extent  of  which  he  had  already  informed  us  in  his 
letter  to  Lord  Clarendon  of  July  8,  1868. 

The  news  of  his  safety  did  not  come  to  us  in  the  shape 


274  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


of  a  telegram  of  a  few  lines  by  way  of  Bombay, — tantal- 
izing us  with  the  scantiness  of  its  information,  and  the 
dread  that  in  a  few  days,  like  many  others,  it  would  be 
contradicted, — but  reached  us  in  the  form  of  a  succinct 
narrative  of  the  meeting  of  Mr.  Stanley-  and  the  explorer 
at  Ujiji,  their  companionship  together  for  several  months, 
a  brief  account  of  his  discoveries,  and  an  intimation  that 
Mr.  Stanley  was  the  bearer  of  letters  and  despatches  from 
Dr.  Livingstone  for  the  Government,  the  Royal  Geogra- 
phical Society,  and  personal  friends.  As  many  of  the 
most  sanguine  believers  in  his  ultimate  safety  had  begun 
to  have  grave  doubts  that  Livingstone's  great  career  had 
ended,  as  that  of  many  a  brave  predecessor  in  African 
discovery  had,  the  joy  and  satisfaction  felt  at  the  cer- 
tainty of  his  safety  was  of  the  warmest  description. 

When  people  had  time  to  think  calmly  about  his  safety, 
and  the  startling  nature  of  the  discoveries  which  he  had 
made  while  lost  to  our  view  in  the  recesses  of  the 
interior,  a  feeling  of  wonder  arose  that  he  should  have 
been  discovered  and  succored  by  a  private  individual,  a 
young  man  at  the  threshold  of  his  fourth  decade,  the  cor- 
respondent of  a  newspaper,  whose  only  experience  of 
Africa,  prior  to  this  great  feat  which  has  associated  his 
name  forever  with  that  of  the  greatest  and  most  success- 
ful explorer  of  ancient  or  modern  times,  was  gained  in 
company  with  the  expedition  sent  by  the  English  Govern- 
ment for  the  rescue  of  the  English  prisoners  at  Magdala. 
Caravan  after  caravan  laden  with  stores,  and  accompanied 
by  men  intended  to  be  of  service  to  the  traveller,  had 
been  despatched  by  Dr.  Kirk,  H.  M.  consul  at  Zanzibar, 
■ — the  Government  and  the  Royal  Geographical  Society 
aiding  him  in  his  endeavors  to  discover  and  succor  the 
man  in  whose  fate  the  whole  civilized  world  was  inter- 
ested-—in  vain. 


STRANGENESS  OF  HIS  DISCOVERT. 


275 


As  we  have  seen,  an  imposing  expedition  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Geographical  Society,  and  handsomely 
provided  with  means  by  subscriptions  from  private  indi- 
viduals and  corporate  bodies,  had  left  this  country,  and 
"was  then  popularly  supposed  to  be  on  its  way  towards  the 
unknown  region  where  its  mission  could  be  fulfilled. 

That  Livingstone's  safety  should  be  determined,  and  his 
wants  supplied,  at  the  cost  of  the  proprietor  of  a  New 
York  newspaper,  and  through  the  pluck  and  daring  of  one 
of  his  subordinates,  who  went  at  his  bidding  to  look  for 
Livingstone  in  Central  Africa,  just  as  he  would  have  gone 
to  collect  news  in  any  of  the  great  centres  of  European 
civilization,  was  a  singular  way  of  accomplishing  a  great 
object,  sadly  puzzling  for  a  time  to  many  ;  and  fears  were 
entertained  that  the  whole  was  an  audacious  canard,  on 
which  only  a  Yankee  journalist  would  dare  to  venture. 
By  and  by,  as  the  original  intelligence  came  to  be  supple- 
mented, it  became  apparent,  that  not  only  was  his  story 
true,  but  that  this  young  journalist  was  one,  who,  in  deter- 
mined courage  and  resolute  perseverance,  was  in  every 
way  worthy  to  take  his  place  among  the  heroes  of  African 
discovery  and  travel.  When  James  Gordon  Bennett,  the 
proprietor  of  "The  New  York-Herald,"  made  up  his  mind 
that  an  effort  should  be  made  to  find  Livingstone,  and 
assigned  the  task  to  Mr.  Stanley,  it  fell  into  the  hands  of 
a  man  capable  of  carrying  it  into  successful  execution. 
No  doubt,  if  some  Englishman  or  American  of  fortune 
had  done  this  thing  from  a  love  of  adventure  or  some 
higher  impulse,  our  ideas  of  the  fitness  of  things  would 
not  have  been  outraged  :  but  there  are  hundreds  of  capable 
and  adventurous  men  who  cannot  afford  to  indulge  in 
heroic  impulses  of  this  nature ;  and  it  wa^  a  fortunate 
thing  for  Livingstone,  and  a  matter  of  congratulation  on 


276  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

the  part  of  civilized  mankind,  that  Mr.  Bennett  had  such 
a  man  on  his  staff,  and  had  the  wisdom  to  know  that  he 
was  the  man  who  could  carry  out  his  wishes,  if  these  were 
possible. 

If  a  life  of  varying  vicissitude  and  arduous  journeyings 
be  a  good  preparation  for  travel  in  Central  Africa,  Mr. 
Stanley  had  undergone  a  training  remarkable  for  one  of 
his  years.  Born  in  Denbigh,  in  North  Wales,  he  emi- 
grated to  New  Orleans  while  still  in  his  teens.  He  joined 
the  Confederate  army,  and  was  taken  prisoner  at  the 
battle  of  Pittsburg  Landing,  on  the  6th  of  April,  1862. 
While  being  conveyed  to  prison,  he  managed  to  effect  his 
escape  in  a  way  which  showed  the  bold  daring  of  the  man. 
Seizing  a  favorable  moment,  he  burst  through  the  armed 
escort,  and,  plunging  into  a  deep  and  sluggish  stream, 
swam  safely  to  the  other  side,  notwithstanding  that  a 
dozen  bullets  were  sent  whistling  about  his  ears.  He  got 
clear  away,  and  went  back  to  England  for  a  few  months. 
Returning  again  to  the  United  States,  he  enlisted  in  the 
Federal  navy,  and  was  present  at  the  capture  of  Fort 
Fisher  on  the  15th  January,  1865.  After  the  war  he 
became  connected  with  "The  New  York  Tribune,"  and 
acted  as  special  correspondent  with  Gen.  Hancock's 
expedition  against  the  Kiowa  and  Cheyenne  Indians.  In 
returning  from  this  mission  to  the  Far  West,  he,  along 
with  a  companion  of  kindred  spirit,  disdaining  the  lum- 
bering stage  route,  accomplished  nearly  seven  hundred 
miles  of  their  return  on  a  raft  down  the  River  Platte  as  far 
as  its  junction  with  the  Missouri.  In  a  short  time  after 
this,  Mr.  Stanley  and  two  companions  turned  up  all  but 
naked  and  totally  destitute  at  the  American  consulate  in 
Constantinople,  having  been  robbed  and  maltreated  in  an 
attempt  to  penetrate  into  the  interior  of  Asia  Minor. 


MR.  STANLEY'S  ADVENTURES. 


277 


t 

Getting  back  to  New  York,  he  was  engaged  by  Mr.  Bennett, 
of  "The  New  York  Herald/'  as  special  correspondent  with 
the  British  Military  Expedition  to  Magdala  in  Abyssinia. 
For  several  years  afterwards,  his  time  was  occupied  in 
representing  that  great  American  journal  in  various  Euro- 
pean capitals,  and  at  the  opening  of  the  Suez  Canal. 
Immediately  prior  to  proceeding  to  Africa  in  search  of 
Livingstone,  he  accomplished  a  journey  even  more  peril- 
ous, as  regards  danger  to  life  and  limb,  than  his  more 
famous  expedition  to  Lake  Tanganyika.  This  was  noth- 
ing less  than  a  journey  from  Constantinople,  through  Asia 
Minor,  Persia,  and  India,  to  Bombay,  with  only  a  single 
servant  as  companion.  Not  the  least  remarkable  part  of 
this  wonderful  exploit  was  its  moderate  cost.  He  tells  us 
that  the  entire  expenditure,  including  outfit,  was  only 
a  hundred  and  sixty-four  pounds.  As  he  is  still  under 
middle  age,  we  may  yet  hear  of  some  equally  daring 
exploit,  as  boldly  conceived  and  as  successfully  carried 
out,  as  the  journey  from  Constantinople  to  Bombay,  and 
that  from  Zanzibar  to  Ujiji  and  back. 

24 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

LETTERS  OF  DR.  LIVINGSTONE.   INCIDENTS  OF  TRAVEL.  

THE  SLAVE-TRADE  IN  CENTRAL  AFRICA.   GEOGRAPHICAL 

CONCLUSIONS,  ETC. 

The  story  of  Dr.  Livingstone's  wanderings  to  and  fro 
over  the  vast  extent  of  country,  the  watershed  of  which, 
according  to  his  belief,  goes  to  form  the  Nile  and  the 
Congo,  cannot  be  better  told  than  in  his  own  words. 
Letters  to  Mr.  James  Gordon  Bennett,  and  to  Lords  Clar- 
endon and  Granville,  successively  foreign  ministers  in 
the  English  government,  supply  ample  materials,  and 
tell  the  story  of  his  trials  and  difficulties,  and  the  geo- 
graphical conclusions  he  had  arrived  at  up  to  the  period 
of  Mr.  Stanley's  meeting  with  him,  in  a  far  more  graphic 
and  telling  manner  than  any  paraphrase  of  ours  could 
pretend  to  do.  In  his  first  letter  to  Mr.  Gordon  Bennett, 
he  records  his  thanks  for  the  great  service  rendered  to 
to  him  by  that  gentleman  :  — 

"  If  I  explain  the  forlorn  condition  in  which  he  found 
me,  you  will  easily  perceive  that  I  have  good  reason  to 
use  very  strong  expressions  of  gratitude.  I  came  to 
Ujiji  off  a  tramp  of  between  four  hundred  and  five  hun- 
dred miles  beneath  a  blazing  vertical  sun,  having  been 
baffled,  worried,  defeated,  and  forced  to  return,  when 
almost  in  sight  of  the  end  of  the  geographical  part  of  my 
mission,  by  a  number  of  half-caste  Moslem  slaves,  sent 
to  me  from  Zanzibar,  instead  of  men.    The  sore  heart, 

278 


1 


LETTERS  OF  LIVINGSTONE. 


279 


made  still  sorer  by  the  truly  woful  sights  I  had  seen  of 
6  man's  inhumanity  to  man/  re-acted  on  the  bodily  frame, 
and  depressed  it  beyond  measure.  I  thought  that  I  was 
dying  on  my  feet.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say,  that  almost 
every  step  of  the  weary,  sultry  way  I  was  in  pain  ;  and  I 
reached  Ujiji  a  mere  ruckle  of  bones,  Here  I  found  that 
some  five  hundred  pounds  worth  of  goods  I  had  ordered 
from  Zanzibar  had  unaccountably  been  intrusted  to  a 
drunken  half-caste  Moslem  tailor,  who,  after  squandering 
them  for  sixteen  months  on  the  way  to  Ujiji,  finished  up  by 
selling  off  all  that  remained  for  slaves  and  ivory  for  him- 
self. He  had  divined  on  the  Koran,  and  found  that  I 
was  dead.  He  had  also  written  to  the  governor  of  Un- 
yanyembe  that  he  had  sent  slaves  after  me  to  Manyema, 
who  returned  and  reported  my  decease,  and  begged  per- 
mission to  sell  off  the  few  goods  that  his  drunken  appe- 
tite had  spared.  He,  however,  knew  perfectly  well,  from 
men  who  had  seen  me,  that  I  was  alive,  and  waiting  for 
the  goods  and  men ;  but,  as  for  morality,  he  is  evidently 
an  idiot ;  and,  there  being  no  law  here  except  that  of  the 
dagger  or  musket,  I  had  to  sit  down  in  great  weakness, 
destitute  of  every  thing  save  a  few  barter  cloths  and 
beads  I  had  taken  the  precaution  to  leave  here  in  case  of 
extreme  need.  The  near  prospect  of  beggary  among 
Ujijians  made  me  miserable.  I  could  not  despair,  be- 
cause I  laughed  so  much  at  a  friend,  who,  on  reaching  the 
mouth  of  the  Zambesi,  said,  '  that  he  was  tempted  to 
despair  on  breaking  the  photograph  of  his  wife  :  we  could 
have  no  success  after  that.'  After  that,  the  idea  of 
despair  has  to  me  such  a  strong  smack  of  the  ludicrous,  it 
is  out  of  the  question. 

"  Well,  when  I  had  got  to  about  the  lowest  verge, 
vague  rumors  of  an   English  visitor  reached  me.  I 


280  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

thought  of  myself  as  the  man  who  went  down  from 
Jerusalem  to  Jericho ;  but  neither  priest,  Levite,  nor 
Samaritan  could  possibly  pass  my  way.  Yet  the  good 
Samaritan  was  close  at  hand ;  and  one  of  my  people 
rushed  up  at  the  top  of  his  speed,  and  in  great  excite- 
ment gasped  out,  '  An  Englishman  coming  !  I  see  him  ! ' 
And  off  he  darted  to  meet  him.  An  American  flag,  the 
first  ever  seen  in  these  parts,  at  the  head  of  a  caravan, 
told  me  the  nationality  of  the  stranger.  I  am  as  cold 
and  non-demonstrative  as  we  islanders  are  usually  reputed 
to  be,  but  your  kindness  made  my  frame  thrill.  It  was 
indeed  overwhelming ;  and  I  said  in  my  soul,  '  Let  the 
richest  blessings  descend  from  the  Highest  on  you  and 
yours.' 

"  The  news  Mr.  Stanle}*  had  to  tell  me  was  thrilling  : 
the  mighty  political  changes  on  the  Continent ;  the  suc- 
cess of  the  Atlantic  cables,  the  election  of  Gen.  Grant, 
and  many  topics,  riveted  my  attention  for  days  together, 
and  had  an  immediate  and  beneficial  effect  on  my  health. 
I  had  been  without  news  from  home  for  years,  save  what 
I  could  glean  from  a  few  4  Saturday  Reviews/  and  copies 
of  '  Punch '  for  1868.  The  appetite  revived,  and  in  a 
week  I  began  to  feel  strong  again.  Mr.  Stanley  brought 
a  most  kind  and  encouraging  despatch  from  Lord  Claren- 
don, whose  loss  I  sincerely  deplore,  —  the  first  I  have 
received  from  the  Foreign  Office  since  1866,  —  and  infor- 
mation that  Her  Majesty's  government  had  kindly  sent 
one  thousand  pounds  to  my  aid.  Up  to  his  arrival  I  was 
not  aware  of  any  pecuniary  aid.  I  came  unsalaried,  but 
this  want  is  now  happily  repaired  ;  and  I  am  anxious  that 
you  and  all  my  friends  should  know,  that,  though 
uncheered  by  letters,  I  have  stuck  to  the  task  which  my 
friend  Sir  Roderick  Murchison  set  me,  with  John-Bullish 
tenacity,  believing  that  all  will  come  right  at  last." 


LIVINGSTONE'S  LETTERS. 


281 


Dr.  Livingstone's  despatch,  addressed  to  the  Earl  of 
Clarendon,  gives  the  best  summary  of  his  geographical 
conclusions  we  have  under  his  own  hand.  We  give  it 
entire :  — 

"  I  wrote  a  very  hurried  letter  on  the  28th  ult.,  and 
sent  it  by  a  few  men  who  had  resolved  to  run  the  risk  of 
passing  through  contending  parties  of  Banyamwesi  and 
mainland  Arabs  at  Unyan}-embe,  which  is  some  twenty 
days  east  of  this.  I  had  just  come  off  a  tramp  of 
more  than  four  hundred  miles  beneath  a  vertical  torrid 
sun,  and  was  so  jaded  in  body  and  mind  by  being  forced 
back  by  faithless,  cowardly  attendants,  that  I  could  have 
written  little  more  though  the  messengers  had  not  been  in 
such  a  hurry  to  depart  as  they  were.  I  have  now  the 
prospect  of  sending  this  safely  to  the  coast  by  a  friend  ; 
but  so  many  of  my  letters  have  disappeared  at  Unyan- 
yembe,  when  intrusted  to  the  care  of  the  Lewale,  or 
governor,  who  is  merely  the  trade-agent  of  certain 
Banians,  that  I  shall  consider  that  of  the  28th  as  one  of 
the  unfortunates,  and  give  in  this  as  much  as  I  can  recall. 

4  4 1  have  ascertained  that  the  watershed  of  the  Nile  is  a 
broad  upland,  between  10°  and  12°  south  latitude,  and  from 
four  thousand  to  five  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea.  Mountains  stand  on  it  at  various  points  ;  which, 
though  not  apparently  very  high,  are  between  six  thousand 
and  seven  thousand  feet  of  actual  altitude.  The  water- 
shed is  over  seven  hundred  miles  in  length,  from  west  to 
east.  The  springs  that  rise  on  it  are  almost  innumerable  ; 
that  is,  it  would  take  a  large  part  of  a  man's  life  to  count 
them.  A  bird's-eye  view  of  some  parts  of  the  watershed 
would  resemble  the  frost  vegetation  on  window-panes. 
They  all  begin  in  an  ooze  at  the  head  of  a  slightly 
depressed  valley.    A  few  hundred  yards  down,  the  quan- 

24* 


282  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

tity  of  water  from  oozing  earthen  sponge  forms  a  brisk 
perennial  burn,  or  brook,  a  few  feet  broad,  and  deep  enough 
to  require  a  bridge.  These  are  the  ultimate  or  primary 
sources  of  the  great  rivers  that  flow  to  the  north  in  the 
great  Nile  valley.  The  primaries  unite,  and  form  streams 
in  general  larger  than  the  Isis  at  Oxford,  or  Avon  at 
Hamilton,  and  may  be  called  secondary  sources.  They 
never  dry,  but  unite  again  into  four  large  lines  of  drain- 
age, the  head  waters,  or  mains,  of  the  river  of  Egypt. 
These  four  are  each  called  by  the  natives  Lualaba,  which, 
if  not  too  pedantic,  may  be  spoken  of  as  lacustrine  rivers, 
extant  specimens  of  those  which  in  prehistoric  times 
abounded  in  Africa,  and  which  in  the  south  are  still  called 
by  Bechuanas  4  Melapo ; '  in  the  north,  by  Arabs, 
4  Wadys  ; '  both  words  meaning  the  same  thing,  —  river- 
beds in  which  no  water  ever  now  flows.  Two  of  the  four 
great  rivers  mentioned  fall  into  the  central  Lualaba,  or 
Webb's  Lake  River  ;  and  then  we  have  but  two  main  lines 
of  drainage  as  depicted  nearly  by  Ptolemy. 

4  4  The  prevailing  winds  on  the  watershed  are  from  the 
south-east.  This  is  easily  observed  by  the  direction  of 
the  branches  ;  and  the  humidity  of  the  climate  is  apparent 
in  the  numbers  of  lichens,  which  make  the  upland  forest 
look  like  the  mangrove  swamps  on  the  coast. 

44  In  passing  over  sixt}7  miles  of  latitude,  I  waded  thirty- 
two  primary  sources  from  calf  to  waist  deep,  and  requir- 
ing from  twenty  minutes  to  an  hour  and  a  quarter  to  cross 
stream  and  sponge :  this  would  give  about  one  source  to 
every  two  miles. 

44  A  Suaheli  friend,  in  passing  along  part  of  the  Lake 
Bangweolo,  during  six  days  counted  twenty-two  from 
thigh  to  waist  deep.  This  lake  is  on  the  watershed :  for 
the  village  at  which  I  observed  on  its  north-west  shore 


LIVINGSTONE'S  LETTERS. 


283 


was  a  few  seconds  into  11°  south,  and  its  southern  shores 
and  springs  and  rivulets  are  certainly  in  12°  south.  I 
tried  to  cross  it,  in  order  to  measure  the  breadth  accu- 
rately. The  first  stage  to  an  inhabited  island  was  about 
twenty-four  miles.  From  the  highest  point  here,  the  tops 
of  the  trees,  evidently  lifted  by  the  mirage,  could  be  seen 
on  the  second  stage  and  the  third  stage :  the  mainland 
was  said  to  be  as  far  as  this  beyond  it.  But  my  canoe 
men  had  stolen  the  canoe,  and  got  a  hint  that  the  v^al 
owners  were  in  pursuit,  and  got  into  a  flurry  to  return 
home.  '  They  would  come  back  for  me  in  a  few  days 
truly  ; '  but  I  had  only  my  coverlet  left  to  hire  another  craft 
if  they  should  leave  me  in  this  wide  expanse  of  water : 
and  being  four  thousand  feet  above  the  sea,  it  was  very 
cold  ;  so  I  returned. 

64  The  length  of  this  lake  is,  at  a  very  moderate  esti- 
mate, one  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  It  gives  forth  a  large 
body  of  water  in  the  Luapula  ;  yet  lakes  are  in  no  sense 
sources,  for  no  large  river  begins  in  a  lake.  But  this  and 
others  serve  an  important  purpose  in  the  phenomena  of 
the  Nile.  It  is  one  large  lake,  and  unlike  the  Okara,  — 
which,  according  to  Suaheli,  who  travelled  long  in  our 
company,  is  three  or  four  lakes  run  into  one  huge  Victoria 
Nyanza,  —  gives  out  a  large  river,  which,  on  departing 
out  of  Moero,  is  still  larger.  These  men  had  spent  many 
years  east  of  Okara,  and  could  scarcely  be  mistaken  in 
saying,  that,  of  the  three  or  four  lakes  there,  only  one,  the 
Okara,  gives  off  its  water  to  the  north. 

"The  6  White  Nile'  of  Speke,  less  by  a  full  half  than 
the  Shire  out  of  Nyassa  (for  it  is  only  eighty  or  ninety 
yards  broad) ,  can  scarcely  be  named  in  comparison  with 
the  central  or  Webb's  Lualaba,  of  from  two  thousand  to 
six  thousand  yards,  in  relation  to  the  phenomena  of  the 


284  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

Nile.  The  structure  and  economy  of  the  watershed 
answer  very  much  the  same  end  as  the  great  lacustrine 
rivers  ;  but  I  cannot  at  present  copy  a  lost  despatch  which 
explained  that.  The  mountains  on  the  watershed  are 
probably  what  Ptolemy,  for  reasons  now  unknown,  called 
the  Mountains  of  the  Moon.  From  their  bases  I  found 
that  the  springs  of  the  Nile  do  unquestionably  arise. 
This  is  just  what  Ptolemy  put  down,  and  is  true  geogra- 
phy. We  must  accept  the  fountains ;  and  nobody  but 
Philistines  will  reject  the  mountains,  though  we  cannot 
conjecture  the  reason  for  the  name. 

"  Mounts  Kenia  and  Kilimanjaro  are  said  to  be  snow- 
capped ;  but  they  are  so  far  from  the  sources,  and  send  no 
water  to  any  part  of  the  Nile,  they  could  never  have  been 
meant  by  the  correct  ancient  explorers,  from  whom 
Ptolemy  and  his  predecessors  gleaned  their  true  geogra- 
phy, so  different  from  the  trash  that  passes  current  in 
modern  times. 

"  Before  leaving  the  subject  of  the  watershed,  I  may 
add,  that  I  know  about  six  hundred  miles  of  it,  but  am 
not  yet  satisfied,  for  unfortunately  the  seventh  hundred  is 
the  most  interesting  of  the  whole.  I  have  a  very  strong 
impression,  that  in  the  last  hundred  miles  the  fountains 
of  the  Nile,  mentioned  to  Herodotus  by  the  secretary  of 
Minerva  in  the  city  of  Sais,  do  arise,  not,  like  all  the  rest, 
from  oozing  earthen  sponges,  but  from  an  earthei 
mound  ;  and  half  the  water  flows  northward  to  Egypt, 
the  other  half  south  to  Inner  Ethiopia.  These,  fountains, 
at  no  great  distance  off,  become  large  rivers,  though  at 
the  mound  they  are  not  more  than  ten  miles  apart. 
That  is,  one  fountain  rising  on  the  north-east  of  the 
mound  becomes  Bartle  Frere's  Lualaba,  and  it  flows  into 
one  of  the  lakes  proper,  Kamolondo,  of  the  central  line 


LIVINGSTONE'S  LETTERS. 


285 


of  drainage ;  Webb's  Lualaba,  the  second  fountain, 
rising  on  the  north-west,  becomes  (Sir  Paraffin)  Young's 
Lualaba,  which  passing  through  Lake  Lincoln  and  be- 
coming Loeki,  or  Lomame,  and  joining  the  central  line 
too,  goes  north  to  Eg}Tpt.  The  third  fountain,  on  the 
south-west,  Palmerston's,  becomes  the  Liambia,  or  Upper 
Zambesi ;  while  the  fourth,  OswelFs  fountain,  becomes 
the  Kafue,  and  falls  into  Zambesi  in  Inner  Ethiopia. 

"More  time  has  been  spent  in  the  exploration  than  I 
ever  anticipated.  My  bare  expenses  were  paid  for  two 
years ;  but,  had  I  left  when  the  money  was  expended,  I 
could  have  given  little  more  information  about  the  coun- 
try than  the  Portuguese,  who,  in  their  three  slave-trading 
expeditions  to  Cazembe,  asked  for  slaves  and  ivory  alone, 
and  heard  of  nothing  else.  From  one  of  the  subordi- 
nates of  their  last  so-called  expedition,  I  learnt  that  it 
was  believed  that  the  Luapula  went  to  Angola  !  I  asked 
about  the  waters  till  I  was  ashamed,  and  almost  afraid  of 
being  set  down  as  afflicted  with  hydrocephalus.  I  had  to 
feel  my  wa}-,  and  every  step  of  the  way,  and  was  gen- 
erally groping  in  the  dark ;  for  who  cared  where  -ihe 
rivers  ran  ?  Many  a  weary  foot  I  trod  ere  I  got  a  clear 
idea  of  the  drainage  of  the  great  Nile  valley.  The  most 
intelligent  natives  and  traders  thought  that  all  the  rivers 
of  the  upper  part  of  that  valley  flowed  into  Tanganyika. 
But  the  barometers  told  me,  that,  to  do  so,  the  water  must 
flow  up  hill.  The  great  rivers  and  the  great  lakes  all 
make  their  waters  converge  into  the  deep  trough  of  the 
valley,  which  is  a  full  inch  of  the  barometer  lower  than 
the  Upper  Tanganyika.  It  is  only  a  sense  of  dut}^,  which 
I  trust  your  lordship  will  approve,  that  makes  me  remain, 
and,  if  possible,  finish  the  geographical  question  of  my 
mission.    After  being  thwarted,  baffled,  robbed,  worried 


286  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

almost  to  death  in  following  the  central  line  of  drainage 
down,  I  have  a  sore  longing  for  home ;  have  had  a  per- 
fect surfeit  of  seeing  strange  new  lands  and  people, 
grand  mountains,  lovely  valle}^,  the  glorious  vegetation 
of  primeval  forests,  wild  beasts,  and  an  endless  succes- 
sion of  beautiful  man  ;  besides  great  rivers  and  vast  lakes, 
—  the  last  most  interesting  from  their  huge  outflo  wings, 
which  explain  some  of  the  phenomena  of  the  grand  old 
Nile. 

"  Let  me  explain,  but  in  no  boastful  style,  the  mistakes 
of  others  who  have  bravely  striven  to  solve  the  ancient 
problem,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  I  have  cogent  reasons 
for  following  the  painful,  plodding  investigation  to 
its  conclusion.  Poor  Speke's  mistake  was  a  foregone 
conclusion.  When  he  discovered  the  Victoria  Nyanza, 
he  at  once  leaped  to  the  conclusion  that  therein  lay  the 
sources  of  the  river  of  Eg}-pt,  '  twenty  thousand  square 
miles  of  water,'  confused  by  sheer  immensity. 

4  4  Ptolemy's  small  lake  4  Coloc '  is  a  more  correct  rep- 
resentation of  the  actual  size  of  that  one  of  three  or  four 
lakes  which  alone  sends  its  outflow  to  the  north :  its  name 
is  Okara.  Lake  Kavirondo  is  three  days  distant  from  it, 
but  connected  by  a  narrow  arm.  Lake  Naibash,  or  Nei- 
bash,  is  four  days  from  Kavirondo .  Baringo  is  ten  days 
distant,  and  discharges  by  a  river,  the  Nagardabash,  to 
the  north-east. 

44  These  three  or  four  lakes,  which  have  been  described 
by  several  intelligent  Suaheli,  who  have  lived  for  many 
years  on  their  shores,  were  run  into  one  huge  Victoria 
N}Tanza.  But  no  sooner  did  Speke  and  Grant  turn  their 
faces  to  this  lake  to  prove  that  it  contained  the  Nile 
fountains,  than  they  turned  their  backs  to  the  springs  of 
the  river  of  Egypt,  which  are  between  four  hundred  and 


LIVINGSTONE'S  LETTERS. 


287 


five  hundred  miles  south  of  the  most  southerly  portion  of 
the  Victoria  Lake.  Every  step  of  their  heroic  and  really 
splendid  achievement  of  following  the  river  down  took 
them  farther  and  farther  from  the  sources  they  sought. 
But  for  devotion  to  the  foregone  conclusion,  the  sight  of 
the  little  6  White  Nile,'  as  unable  to  account  for  the  great 
river,  they  must  have  turned  off  to  the  west,  down  into 
the  deep  trough  of  the  great  valley,  and  there  found 
lacustrine  rivers  amply  sufficient  to  account  for  the  Nile 
and  all  its  phenomena. 

"The  next  explorer,  Baker,  believed  as  honestly  as 
Speke  and  Grant,  that  in  the  Lake  Eiver  Albert  he  had  a 
second  source  of  the  Nile  to  that  of  Speke.  He  came 
farther  up  the  Nile  than  any  other  in  modern  times,  but 
turned  when  between  six  hundred  and  seven  hundred 
miles  short  of  the  caput  Nili.  He  is  now  employed  in  a 
more  noble  work  than  the  discovery  of  Nile  sources  ;  and 
if,  as  all  must  earnestly  wish,  he  succeeds  in  suppressing 
the  Nile  slave-trade,  the  boon  he  will  bestow  on  hu- 
manity will  be  of  far  higher  value  than  all  my  sources 
together. 

' 6  When  intelligent  men  like  these  and  Bruce  have  been 
mistaken,  I  have  naturally  felt  anxious  that  no  one  should 
come  after  me  and  find  sources  south  of  mine,  which  I 
now  think  can  only  be  possible  by  water  running  up  the 
southern  slope  of  the  watershed. 

"But  all  that  can  in  modern  times,  and  in  common 
modesty,  be  fairly  claimed,  is  the  re-discovery  of  what 
had  sunk  into  oblivion,  like  the  circumnavigation  of 
Africa  by  the  Phoenician  admiral  of  one  of  the  Pharaohs, 
about  B.  C.  600.  He  was  not  believed,  because  he  re- 
ported, that,  in  passing  round  Libya,  he  had  the  sun  on  his 
right  hand.  This,  to  us  who  have  gone  round  the  Cape 
from  east  to  west,  stamps  his  tale  as  genuine. 


288 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


"  The  predecessors  of  Ptolemy  probably  gained  their 
mformation  from  men  who  visited  this  very  region  ;•  for, 
m  the  second  century  of  our  era,  he  gave,  in  substance, 
what  we  now  find  to  be  genuine  geography. 

"  The  springs  of  the  Nile,  rising  in  10°  to  12°  south 
latitude,  and  their  water  collecting  into  two  large  lacus- 
trine rivers,  and  other  facts,  could  have  been  learned  only 
from  primitive  travellers  or  traders,  —  the  true  discoverers 
of  what  emperors,  kings,  philosophers,  all  the  great  minds 
of  antiquit}',  longed  to  know,  and  longed  in  vain. 

"  The  geographical  results  of  four  arduous  trips  in 
different  directions  in  the  Manyema  country  are  briefly 
as  follows :  The  great  river,  Webb's  Lualaba,  in  the 
centre  of  the  Nile  valley,  makes  a  great  bend  to  the  west, 
soon  after  leaving  Lake  Moero,  of  at  least  a  hundred  and 
eighty  miles ;  then,  turning  to  the  north  for  some  dis- 
tance, it  makes  another  large  sweep  west,  of  about  a  hun- 
dred and  twenty  miles,  in  the  course  of  which  about  thirty 
miles  of  southing  are  made  ;  it  then  draws  round  to  north- 
east, receives  the  Lomame,  or  Loeki,  a  large  river  which 
flows  through  Lake  Lincoln.  After  the  union  a  large  lake 
is  formed,  with  many  inhabited  islands  in  it ;  but  this  has 
still  to  be  explored.  It  is  the  fourth  large  lake  in  the  cen- 
tral line  of  drainage,  and  cannot  be  Lake  Albert ;  for 
assuming  Speke's  longitude  of  Ujiji  to  be  pretty  correct, 
and  my  reckoning  not  enormously  wrong,  the  great  central 
lacustrine  river  is  about  five  degrees  west  of  Upper  and 
Lower  Tanganyika. 

"  The  mean  of  many  barometric  and  boiling-point  ob- 
servations made  Upper  Tanganyika  two  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  eighty  feet  high.  Respect  for  Speke's  mem- 
ory made  me  hazard  the  conjecture  that  he  found  it  to  be 
nearly  the  same  ;  but  from  the  habit  of  writing  the  Annum 


LIVINGSTONE'S  LETTERS. 


289 


Domini,  a  mere  slip  of  the  pen  made  him  say  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  forty-four  feet.  But  I  have  more  con- 
fidence in  the  barometers  than  in  the  boiling-points  ;  and 
they  make  Tanganyika  over  three  thousand  feet,  and  the 
lower  part  of  Central  Lualaba  one  inch  lower,  or  about 
the  altitude  ascribed  to  Gondokoro. 

"Beyond the  fourth  lake,  the  water  passes,  it  is  said, 
into  large,  reedy  lakes  ;  and  is,  in  all  probability,  Pether- 
ieVs  branch,  — the  main  stream  of  the  Nile, —  in  distinc- 
tion from  the  smaller  eastern  arm,  which  Speke,  Grant, 
and  Baker  took  to  be  the  river  of  Egypt. 

"  In  my  attempts  to  penetrate  farther  and  farther,  I  had 
but  little  hope  of  ultimate  success ;  for  the  great  amount 
of  westing  led  to  a  continual  effort  to  suspend  the  judg- 
ment, lest,  after  all,  I  might  be  exploring  the  Congo, 
instead  of  the  Nile ;  and  it  was  only  after  the  two  great 
western  drains  fell  into  the  central  main,  and  left  but  the 
two  great  lacustrine  rivers  of  Ptolemy,  that  I  felt  pretty 
sure  of  being  on  the  right  track. 

"  The  great  bends  west  probably  form  one  side  of  the 
great  rivers  above  that  geographical  loop  ;  the  other  side 
being  Upper  Tanganyika  and  the  Lake  River  Albert.  A 
waterfall  is  reported  to  exist  between  Tanganyika  and 
Albert  Nyanza,  but  I  could  not  go  to  it ;  nor  have  I  seen 
the  connecting  link  between  the  two,  —  the  upper  side  of 
the  loop,  —  though  I  believe  it  exists. 

u  The  Manyema  are  certainly  cannibals  ;  but  it  was  long 
ere  I  could  get  evidence  more  positive  than  would  have 
led  a  Scotch  jury  to  give  a  verdict  of  c  not  proven.'  They 
eat  only  enemies  killed  in  war :  they  seem  as  if  instigated 
ny  revenge  in  their  man-eating  orgies  ;  and,  on  these  occa- 
sions, they  do  not  like  a  stranger  to  see  them.  I  offered  a 
large  reward  in  vain  to  any  one  who  would  call  me  to  wit- 

25 


290  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  ZL.D. 

ness  a  cannibal  feast.  Some  intelligent  men  have  told  me 
that  the  meat  is  not  nice,  and  made  them  dream  of  the 
deal.  The  women  never  partake,  and  I  am  glad  of  it ; 
for  many  of  them  far  down  Lualaba  are  very  pretty :  they 
bathe  three  or  four  times  a  day,  and  are  expert  divers  for 
oysters. 

"  The  terror  that  guns  inspire  generally  among  the 
Manyema  seems  to  arise  among  the  Bakuss  from  an  idea 
that  they  are  supernatural.  The  effect  of  gunshot  on  a 
goa.;.  was  shown,  in  order  to  convince  them  that  the 
traders  had  power,  and  that  the  instruments  they  carried 
were  not,  as  they  imagined,  the  mere  insignia  of  chief- 
tainship :  they  looked  up  to  the  skies,  and  offered  to  bring 
ivory  to  purchase  the  charm  by  which  lightning  was  drawn 
down  ;  and  afterwards,  when  the  traders  tried  to  force  a 
passage  which  was  refused,  they  darted  aside  on  seeing 
Banyamwezi's  followers  place  the  arrows  in  the  bow- 
strings, but  stood  in  mute  amazement  while  the  guns 
mowed  them  down  in  great  numbers.  They  use  long 
epears  in  the  thick  vegetation  of  their  country  with  great 
dexterity  ;  and  they  have  told  me  frankly,  what  was  self- 
evident,  that,  but  for  the  lire-arms,  not  one  of  the  Zanzi- 
bar slaves  or  half-castes  would  ever  leave  their  country. 

"  There  is  not  a  single  great  chief  in  all  Man}^ema.  No 
matter  what  name  the  different  divisions  of  people  bear, 
—  Manyema,  Balegga,  Babire,  Bazire,  Bakoos,  —  there 
is  no  political  cohesion  ;  not  one  king  or  kingdom.  Each 
head  man  is  independent  of  eve^  other.  The  people  are 
industrious,  and  most  of  them  cultivate  the  soil  largely. 
We  found  them  everywhere  very  honest.  When  detained 
at  Bambarre,  we  had  to  send  our  goats  and  fowls  to  the 
Manyema  villages,  to  prevent  them  being  all  stolen  by  the 
Zanzibar  slaves :  the  slave-owners  had  to  do  the  same. 


LIVINGSTONE'S  LETTERS. 


291 


"Manyema-land  is  the  only  country  in  Central  Africa 
I  have  seen  where  cotton  is  not  cultivated,  spun,  and 
Woven.  The  clothing  is  that  known  in  Madagascar  aa 
'  lambas '  or  grass-cloth,  made  from  the  leaves  of  the 
4  Muale 9  palm. 

"  They  call  the  good  spirit  above  '  Ngulu, '  or  the  Great 
One  ;  and  the  spirit  of  evil,  who  resides  in  the  deep,  4  Mu- 
lambu.'  A  hot  fountain  near  Bambarre  .is  supposed  to 
belong  to  this  being,  the  author  of  death  by  drowning  and 
other  misfortunes." 

The  following  graphic  account  of  travel  in  Manyema- 
land,  which  occurs  in  a  despatch  to  Lord  Granville,  gives 
a  striking  picture  of  the  country  and  the  difficulties  of 
travel :  — 

"  The  country  is  extremely  beautiful,  but  difficult  to 
travel  over.  The  mountains  of  light-gray  granite  stand 
like  islands  in  new  red  sandstone,  and  mountain  and 
valley  are  all  clad  in  a  mantle  of  different  shades  of  green. 
The  vegetation  is  indescribably  rank.  Through  the  grass 
—  if  grass  it  can  be  called,  which  is  over  half  an  inch  in 
diameter  in  the  stalk,  and  from  ten  to  twelve  feet  high  — 
nothing  but  elephants  can  walk.  The  leaves  of  this  me- 
gatherium grass  are  armed  with  minute  spikes,  which,  as 
we  worm  our  way  along  elephant-walks,  rub  disagreeably 
on  the  side  of  the  face  where  the  gun  is  held,  and  the 
hand  is  made  sore  by  fending  it  off  the  other  side  for 
hours.  The  rains  were  fairly  set  in  by  November  ;  and  in 
the  mornings,  or  after  a  shower,  these  leaves  were  loaded 
with  moisture  which  wet  us  to  the  bone.  The  valleys  are 
deeply  undulating,  and  in  each  innumerable  dells  have  to 
be  crossed.  There  may  be  only  a  thread  of  water  at  the 
bottom ;  but  the  mud,  mire,  or  (scottice)  c  glaur '  is 
grievous :  thirty  or  forty  yards  of  the  path  on  each  side 


292  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


of  the  stream  are  worked  by  the  feet  of  passengers  into 
an  adhesive  compound.  By  placing  a  foot  on  each  side 
of  the  narrow  way,  one  may  waddle  a  little  distance 
along ;  but  the  rank  crop  of  grasses,  gingers,  and  bushes 
cannot  spare  the  few  inches  of  soil  required  for  the  side 
of  the  foot,  and  down  he  comes  into  the  slough.  The 
path  often  runs  along  the  bed  of  the  rivulet  for  sixty  or 
more  yards,  as  if  he  who  first  cut  it  out  went  that  dis- 
tance seeking  for  a  part  of  the  forest  less  dense  for  his 
axe.  In  other  cases,  the  Muale  palm,  from  which  here,  as 
in  Madagascar,  grass-cloth  is  woven,  and  called  by  the 
same  name,  1  lamba,'  has  taken  possession  of  the  valley. 
The  leaf-stalks,  as  thick  as  a  strong  man's  arm,  fall  off 
and  block  up  all  passage,  save  by  a  path  made  and  mixed 
up  by  the  feet  of  elephants  and  buffaloes :  the  slough 
therein  is  groan-compelling  and  deep. 

"  Every  now  and  then  the  traders,  with  rueful  faces, 
stand  panting ;  the  sweat  trickles  down  my  face ;  and  I 
suppose  that  I  look  as  grim  as  they,  though  I  try  to  cheer 
them  with  the  hope  that  good  prices  will  reward  them  at 
the  coast  for  ivory  obtained  with  so  much  toil.  In  some 
cases  the  subsoil  has  given  way  beneath  the  elephant's 
enormous  weight ;  the  deep  hole  is  filled  with  mud ;  and 
one,  taking  it  all  to  be  about  calf  deep,  steps  into  the  top 
of  the  thigh,  and  flaps  on  to  a  seat,  soft  enough,  but  not 
luxurious :  a  merry  laugh  relaxes  the  facial  muscles, 
though  I  have  no  other  reason  for  it  than  that  it  is  better 
to  laugh  than  to  cry. 

"  Some  of  the  numerous  rivers  which  in  this  region  flow 
into  Lualaba  are  covered  with  living  vegetable  bridges  :  a 
species  of  dark  glossy-leaved  grass,  with  its  roots  and 
leaves,  felts  itself  into  a  mat  that  covers  the  whole  stream. 
When  stepped  upon,  it  yields  twelve  or  fifteen  inches,  and 


LIVINGSTONE'S  LETTERS. 


293 


that  amount  of  water  rises  up  on  the  leg.  At  every  step 
the  foot  has  to  be  raised  high  enough  to  place  it  on  the 
unbent  mass  in  front.  This  high  stepping  fatigues  like 
walking  on  deep  snow.  Here  and  there  holes  appear 
which  we  could  not  sound  with  a  stick  six  feet  long :  they 
gave  the  impression  that  anywhere  one  might  plump 
through  and  finish  the  chapter.  Where  the  water  is  shal- 
low, the  lotus,  or  sacred  lily,  sends  its  roots  to  the  bottom, 
and  spreads  its  broad  leaves  over  the  floating  bridge,  so 
as  to  make  believe  that  the  mat  is  its  own ;  but  the  grass 
referred  to  is  the  real  felting  and  supporting  agent,  for  it 
often  performs  duty  as  bridge  where  no  lilies  grow.  The 
bridge  is  called  by  Manyema  6  kintefwetefwe,'  as  if  he  who 
first  coined  it  was  gasping  for  breath  after  plunging  over 
a  mile  of  it. 

"  Between  each  district  of  Manyema  large  belts  of  the 
primeval  forest  still  stand.  Into  these  the  sun,  though 
vertical,  cannot  penetrate,  except  by  sending  down  at 
midday  thin  pencils  of  rays  into  the  gloom.  The  rain- 
water stands  for  months  in  stagnant  pools  made  by  the 
feet  of  elephants  ;  and  the  dead  leaves  decay  on  the  damp 
soil,  and  make  the  water  of  the  numerous  rivulets  of  the 
color  of  strong  tea.  The  climbing  plants,  from  the  size 
of  whipcord  to  that  of  a  man-of-war's  hawsers,  are  so 
numerous,  the  ancient  path  is  the  only  passage.  When 
one  of  the  giant  trees  falls  across  the  road,  it  forms  a  wall 
breast-high  to  be  climbed  over  ;  and  the  mass  of  tangled 
ropes  brought  down  makes  cutting  a  path  round  it  a  work 
of  time  which  travellers  never  undertake. 

"  The  shelter  of  the  forest  from  the  sun  makes  it  pleas- 
ant ;  but  the  roots  of  trees  high  out  of  the  soil  across  the 
path  keep  the  eyes,  ox-like,  on  the  ground.  The  trees 
are  so  high,  that  a  good  shot-gun  does  no  harm  to  parrots 

25* 


294 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


or  guinea-fowls  on  their  tops ;  and  they  are  often  m 
closely  planted,  that  I  have  heard  gorillas,  here  called 
4  sokos,'  growling  about  fifty  3-ards  off,  without  getting  a 
glimpse  of  them.  His  nest  is  a  poor  contrivance  :  it  ex- 
hibits no  more  architectural  skill  than  the  nest  of  our 
cushat  dove.  Here  the  6  soko '  sits  in  pelting  rain,  with 
his  hands  over  his  head.  The  natives  give  him  a  good 
character,  and  from  what  I  have  seen  he  deserves  it ;  bi  t 
they  call  his  nest  his  house,  and  laugh  at  him  for  being 
such  a  fool  as  to  build  a  house,  and  not  go  beneath  it  for 
shelter." 

In  a  despatch  addressed  to  Earl  Granville,  dated  Ujiji, 
Nov.  14,  1871,  Dr.  Livingstone  exposes  the  fact  that  the 
slave-trade  in  Central  Africa  is  mainly  carried  on  for  the 
benefit  of  British  subjects.    He  says,  — 

"In  my  letter  dated  Bambarre,  November,  1870,  now 
enclosed,  I  stated  my  grave  suspicions  that  a  packet  of 
about  forty  letters  —  despatches,  copies  of  all  the  astrono- 
mical observations  from  the  coast  onwards,  and  sketch- 
maps  on  tracing  paper,  intended  to  convey  a  clear  idea  of 
all  the  discoveries  up  to  the  time  of  arrival  at  Ujiji  — 
would  be  destroyed.  It  was  delivered  to  the  agent  here 
of  the  governor  of  Unyanyembe ;  and  I  paid  him  in  full 
all  he  demanded  to  transmit  it  to  Syde-bin-Salem  Buras- 
chid,  the  so-called  governor,  -who  ik  merely  a  trade-agent 
of  certain  Banians  of  Zanzibar,  and  a  person  who  is 
reputed  dishonest  by  all.  As  an  agent  he  pilfers  from  his 
employers,  be  they  Banians  or  Arabs ;  as  a  governor, 
expected  to  exercise  the  office  of  a  magistrate,  he  dis- 
penses justice  to  him  who  pays  most ;  and,  as  the  subject 
of  a  sultan  who  intrusted  him  because  he  had  no  power  on 
the  mainland  to  supersede  him,  he  robs  his  superior  shame- 
lessly. No  Arab  or  native  ever  utters  a  good  word  for 
trim,  but  all  detest  him  for  his  injustice. 


ARAB  SLAVE-TRADERS. 


295 


"The  following  narrative  requires  it  to  be  known  that 
his  brother,  Ali-bin-Salem  Buraschid,  is  equally  notorious 
for  unblushing  dishonesty.  All  Arabs  and  Europeans 
who  have  had  dealings  with  either  speak  in  unmeasured 
terms  of  their  fraud  and  duplicity.  The  brothers  are 
employed  in  trade,  chiefly  by  Ludha  Damji,  the  richest 
Banian  in  Zanzibar. 

"  It  is  well  known  that  the  slave-trade  in  this  country 
is  carried  on  almost  entirely  with  his  money  and  that  of 
other  Banian  British  subjects.  The  Banians  advance  the 
goods  required ;  and  the  Arabs  proceed  inland  as  their 
agents,  perform  the  trading,  or  rather  murdering,  and, 
when  slaves  and  ivory  are  brought  to  the  coast,  the  Arabs 
sell  the  slaves.  The  Banians  pocket  the  price,  and  adroitly 
let  the  odium  rest  on  their  agents.  As  a  rule,  no  travel- 
ling Arab  has  money  sufficient  to  undertake  an  inland 
journey.  Those  who  have  become  rich  imitate  the 
Banians,  and  send  their  indigent  countrymen  and  slaves 
to  trade  for  them.  The  Banians  could  scarcely  carry  on 
their  system  of  trade,  were  they  not  in  possession  of  the 
custom-house,  and  had  power  to  seize  all  the  goods  that 
pass  through  it  to  pay  themselves  for  debts.  The  so- 
called  governors  are  appointed  on  their  recommendation, 
and  become  mere  trade-agents.  When  the  Arabs  in  the 
interior  are  assaulted  by  the  natives,  they  never  unite 
under  a  governor  as  a  leader ;  for  they  know  that  defend- 
ing them,  or  concerting  means  for  their  safety,  is  no  part 
of  his  duty.  The  Arabs  are  nearly  all  in  debt  to  the 
Banians,  and  the  Banian  slaves  are  employed  in  ferreting 
out  every  trade  transaction  of  the  debtors ;  and,  when 
watched  by  governors'  slaves  and  custom-house  officers, 
it  is  scarcely  possible  for  even  this  cunning,  deceitful  race 
to  escape  being  fleeced.    To  avoid  this  many  surrender 


296  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


all  the  ivory  to  their  Banian  creditors,  and  are  allowed  to 
keep  or  sell  the  slaves  as  their  share  of  the  profits.  It 
will  readily  be  perceived  that  the  prospect  of  in  any  way 
coming  under  the  power  of  Banian  British  subjects  at 
Zanzibar  is  very  far  from  re-assuring." 
.  Leaders  of  slave  parties  often  resort  to  massacre  with 
the  view  of  inspiring  a  dread  of  their  power,  and  to  insure 
the  rapid  capturing  of  slaves  during  the  confusion  thus 
created.  Dr.  Livingstone  gives  a  terrible  narrative  of  an 
attack  upon  the  unoffending  Man}-ema :  "  On  the  13th 
of  June  a  massacre  was  perpetrated  which  filled  me  with 
such  intolerable  loathing  that  I  resolved  to  yield  to  the 
Banian  slaves,  return  to  Ujiji,  get  men  from  the  coast,  and 
try  to  finish  the  rest  of  my  work  by  going  outside  the  area 
of  Ujijian  bloodshed,  instead  of  vainly  trying  from  its 
interior  outwards. 

w  Dugumbe's*  people  built  their  huts  on  the  right  bank 
of  Lualaba,  at  a  market-place  called  Nyangwe.  On  hear- 
ing that  the  head  slave  of  a  trader  at  Ujiji  had,  in  order 
to  get  canoes  cheap,  mixed  blood  with  the  head  men  of 
the  Bagenya  on  the  left  bank,  [they]  were  disgusted  with 
his  assurance,  and  resolved  to  punish  him,  and  make  an 
impression  in  the  country  in  favor  of  their  own  greatness 
by  an  assault  on  the  market  people,  and  on  all  the 
Bagenya  who  had  dared  to  make  friendship  with  any  but 
themselves.  Tagamoio,  the  principal  under-tracler  of 
Dugumbe's  party,  was  the  perpetrator.  The  market  was 
attended  every  fourth  day  by  between  2,000  and  3,000 
people.  It  was  held  on  a  long  slope  of  land,  which  down 
at  the  river  ended  in  a  creek  capable  of  containing  be- 
tween fifty  and  sixty  large  canoes.    The  majority  of  the 


*  Dugumbe  was  an  Arab  trader. 


HORRIBLE  MASSACRE, 


297 


market  people  were  women,  many  of  them  very  pretty. 
The  people  west  of  the  river  brought  fish,  salt,  pepper, 
oil,  grass-cloth,  iron,  fowls,  goats,  sheep,  pigs,  in  great 
numbers,  to  exchange  with  those  east  of  the  river  for 
cassava  grain,  potatoes,  and  other  farinaceous  products. 
They  have  a  strong  sense  of  natural  justice,  and  all  unite 
m  forcing  each  other  to  fair  dealing.  At  first  my  presence 
made  them  all  afraid  ;  but  wishing  to  gain  their  confidence, 
which  my  enemies  tried  to  undermine  or  prevent,  I  went 
among  them  frequently,  and  when  they  saw  no  harm  in 
me  became  very  gracious.  The  bargaining  was  the  finest 
acting  I  ever  saw.  I  understood  but  few  of  the  words 
that  flew  off  the  glib  tongues  of  the  women,  but  their 
gestures  spoke  plainly.  I  took  sketches  of  the  fifteen 
varieties  of  fish  brought  in,  to  compare  them  with  those 
of  the  Nile  farther  down  ;  and  all  were  eager  to  tell  their 
names.  But,  on  the  date  referred  to,  I  had  left  the  mar- 
ket only  a  minute  or  two,  when  three  men  whom  I  had 
seen  with  guns,  and  felt  inclined  to  reprove  them  for 
bringing  them  into  the  market-place,  but  had  refrained, 
attributing  it  to  ignorance  in  new-comers,  began  to  fire 
into  the  dense  crowd  around  them ;  another  party  down 
at  the  canoes  rained  their  balls  on  the  panic-struck  multi- 
tude that  rushed  into  these  vessels.  All  threw  away  their 
goods ;  the  men  forgot  their  paddles ;  the  canoes  were 
jammed  in  the  creek,  and  could  not  be  got  out  quick 
enough,  so  many  men  and  women  sprang  into  the  water. 
The  women  of  the  left  bank  are  expert  divers  for  oysters, 
and  a  long  line  of  heads  showed  a  crowd  striking  out  for 
an  island  a  mile  off :  to  gain  it  they  had  to  turn  the  left 
shoulder  against  a  current  of  between  a  mile  and  a  half  to 
two  miles  an  hour.  Had  they  gone  diagonally  with  the 
current,  though  that  would  have  been  three  miles,  many 


298  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


would  have  gained  the  shore.  It  was  horrible  to  see  one 
head  after  another  disappear, — some  calmly ;  others  throw- 
ing their  arms  high  up  towards  the  Great  Father  of  all, 
and  going  down.  Some  of  the  men  who  got  canoes  out 
of  the  crowd  paddled  quick,  with  hands  and  arms,  to  help 
their  friends ;  three  took  people  in,  till  they  all  sank 
together.  One  man  had  clearly  lost  his  head ;  for  he 
paddled  a  canoe  which  would  have  held  fifty  people 
straight  up-stream,  nowhere.  The  Arabs  estimated  the 
loss  at  between  400  and  500  souls.  Dugumbe  sent  out 
some  of  his  men  in  one  of  thirty  canoes,  which  the  owners 
in  their  fright  could  not  extricate  to  save  the  sinking. 
One  lady  refused  to  be  taken  on  board  because  she 
thought  that  she  was  to  be  made  a  slave  ;  but  he  rescued 
twenty-one,  and  of  his  own  accord  sent  them,  next  day, 
home ;  many  escaped  and  came  to  me,  and  wrere  restored 
to  their  friends.  When  the  firing  began  on  the  terror- 
stricken  crowd  at  the  canoes,  Tagamoio's  band  began  their 
assault  on  the  people  on  the  west  of  the  river,  and  con- 
tinued the  fire  all  day.  I  counted  seventeen  villages  in 
flames  and  next  day  six.  Dugumbe' s  power  over  the 
underlings  is  limited  ;  but  he  ordered  them  to  cease  shoot- 
ing :  those  in  the  market  were  so  reckless  they  shot  two 
of  their  own  number.  Tagamoio's  crew  came  back  next 
day  in  canoes,  shouting  and  firing  off  their  guns  as  if 
believing  that  they  were  worthy  of  renown. 

"  Next  day  about  twenty  head  men  fled  from  the  west 
Dank,  and  came  to  my  house.  There  was  no  occasion  now 
to  tell  them  that  the  English  had  no  desire  for  human 
blood.  They  begged  hard  that  I  should  go  over  with  them 
and  settle  with  them,  and  arrange  where  the  new  dwellings 
of  each  should  be.  I  was  so  ashamed  of  the  bloody 
Moslem  company  in  which  I  found  myself,  that  I  was 


DISCOURAGEMENT  AND  DANGER. 


299 


unable  to  look  at  the  Manyema.  I  confessed  my  grief  and 
shame,  and  was  entreated,  if  I  must  go,  not  to  leave  them 
now.  Dugumbe  spoke  kindly  to  them,  and  would  protect 
them  as  well  as  he  could  against  his  own  people ;  but 
when  I  went  to  Tagamoio  to  ask  back  the  wives  and 
daughters  of  some  of  the  head  men,  he  always  ran  off  and 
hid  himself. 

4  4  This  massacre  was  the  most  terrible  scene  I  ever  saw 
1  cannot  describe  my  feelings,  and  am  thankful  that  I  did 
not  give  way  to  them,  but  by  Dugumbe's  advice  avoided  a 
bloody  feud  with  men,  who,  for  the  time,  seemed  turned 
into  demons.  The  whole  transaction  was  the  more  de- 
plorable, inasmuch  as  we  have  always  heard  from  the 
Manyema,  that,  though  the  men  of  the  districts  may  be 
engaged  in  actual  hostilities,  the  women  pass  from  one 
market-place  to  another  with  their  wares,  and  were  nevei 
known  to  be  molested.  The  change  has  come  only  with 
these  alien  bloodhounds ;  and  all  the  bloodshed  has 
taken  place  in  order  that  captives  might  be  seized  where 
it  could  be  done  without  danger,  and  in  order  that  the 
slaving  privileges  of  a  petty  sultan  should  produce  abun- 
dant fruit. 

"  Heartsore,  and  greatly  depressed  in  spirits  by  the 
many  instances  of  '  man's  inhumanity  to  man '  I  had  un- 
willingly seen,  I  commenced  the  long  weary  tramp  to 
Ujiji,  with  the  blazing  sun  right  overhead.  The  mind 
acted  on  the  body  ;  and  it  is  no  over-statement  to  say  that 
almost  every  step  of  between  four  hundred  and  five  hun- 
dred miles  was  in  pain.  I  felt  as  if  dying  on  my  feet,  and 
I  came  very  near  to  death  in  a  more  summary  way.  It 
ia  within  the  area  of  bloodshed  that  danger  alone  occurs. 
I  could  not  induce  my  Moslem  slaves  to  \enture  outside 
that  area  or  sphere.  They  knew  better  than  I  did.  '  Was 
Muhamad  not  the  greatest  of  all,  and  their  prophet  ? ' " 


300  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

The  natives  to  the  west  of  Lake  Tanganyika  are,  accord- 
ing :o  Livingstone,  a  naturally  intelligent  and  well- 
favored  "race,  and  exceedingly  friendly  and  well-disposed 
towards  strangers,  until  they  have  lost  confidence  in  them 
through  cruelty  and  ill-usage.  The  following  "  lights  and 
shades"  of  African  life  are  painfully  interesting.  He 
says,  — 

"  Slaves  generally  —  and  especially  those  on  tne  West 
Coast  at  Zanzibar  and  elsewhere  —  are  extremely  ugly. 
I  have  no  prejudice  against  their  color :  indeed,  any  one 
who  lives  long  among  them  forgets  that  th^y  are  black, 
and  feels  that  they  are  just  fellow-men.  But  the  low,  re- 
treating forehead,  prognathous  jaws,  lark  heels,  and  other 
physical  peculiarities  common  among  slaves  and  West 
Coast  negroes,  always  awaken  the  same  feelings  of  aver- 
sion as  those  with  which  we  view  specimens  of  the  '  Bill 
S}Tkes '  and  '  Bruiser '  class  in  England.  I  would  not  utter 
a  syllable  calculated  to  press  down  either  class  more 
deeply  in  the  mire  in  which  they  are  already  sunk ;  but  I 
wish  to  point  out  that  these  are  not  typical  Africans  any 
more  than  typical  Englishmen,  and  that  the  natives  of 
nearly  all  the  high  lands  of  the  interior  of  the  continent 
are  fair  average  specimens  of  humanity.  I  happened  to 
be  present  when  all  the  head  men  of  the  great  chief  In- 
sama,  who  lives  west  of  the  south  end  of  Tanganyika,  had 
come  together  to  make  peace  with  certain  Arabs  who  had 
burned  their  chief  towm  ;  and  I  am  certain  one  could  not 
see  more  finery  formed,  intellectual  heads  in  an}-  assembly 
in  London  or  Paris  ;  and  the  faces  and  forms  corresponded 
with  the  finely-shaped  heads.  Insama  himself,  who  had 
been  a  sort  of  Napoleon  for  righting  and  conquering  in  his 
younger  days,  was  exactly  like  the  ancient  Assyrians 
sculptured  on  the  Nineveh  marbles ,  as  Nimrod  and  others  : 


ADORNMENTS  OF  THE  WOMEN 


301 


lie  showed  himself  to  be  one  of  ourselves  liy  habitually 
indulging  in  copious  potations  of  beer,  called  pombe,  and 
had  become  what  Nathaniel  Hawthorne  called  4  bilbous ' 
below  the  ribs.  I  don't  know  wThere  the  prase  6  bloated 
aristocracy '  arose.  It  must  be  American  ;  for  I  have  had 
glimpses  of  a  good  few  English  noblemen*  and  Insama 
was  the  only  specimen  of  a  bloated  aristocrat  on  whom  I 
ever  set  my  eyes. 

"  Many  of  the  women  were  very  pretty,  and,  like  all 
ladies,  would  have  been  much  prettier  if  they  had  only  let 
themselves  alone.  Fortunately,  the  dears  could  not 
change  their  charming  black  e}7es,  beautiful  foreheads, 
•  nicely  rounded  limbs,  well-shaped  forms,  and  small  hands 
and  feet.  But  they  must  adorn  themselves ;  and  this 
they  do  —  oh,  the  hussies  !  —  by  filing  their  splendid  teeth 
to  points  like  cats'  teeth.  It  was  distressing  ;  for  it  made 
their  smile,  which  has  generally  so  much  power  over  us 
great  he-donkeys >  rather  crocodile-like.  Ornaments  are 
scarce.  What  would  our  ladies  do,  if  they  had  none,  but 
pout  and  lecture  us  on  '  women's  rights '  ?  But  these 
specimens  of  the  fair  sex  make  shift  by  adorning  their 
fine  warm  brown  skins,  tattooing  them  with  various  pretty 
devices  without  colors,  that,  besides  purposes  of  beaut}7, 
serve  the  heraldic  uses  of  our  Highland  tartans.  The}7 
are  not  black,  but  of  a  light  warm  brown  color ;  and  so 
very  sisterish,  —  if  I  may  use  the  new  coinage,  —  it  feels  an 
injury  done  to  one's  self  to  see  a  bit  of  grass  stuck  through 
the  cartilage  of  the  nose,  so  as  to  bulge  out  the  aim  nasi 
(wings  of  the  nose  of  anatomists).  Cazembe's  queen  — 
a  Ngombe,  Moarl  by  name  —  would  be  esteemed  a  real 
beauty  in  London.  Paris,  or  New  York ;  and  yet  she  had 
a  small  hole  through  the  cartilage  near  the  top  of  her  fine 
slightly  aquiline  nose.    But  she  had  only  filed  one  side  of 

26 


602  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

the  two  fronts  of  her  superb  snow-white  teeth  ;  and  then 
what  a  laugh  she  had  !  Let  those  who  wish  to  know,  go 
and  see  her  carried  to  her  farm  in  her  pony  phaeton, 
which  is  a  sort  of  throne  fastened  on  two  very  long  poles, 
and  carried  by  twelve  stalwart  citizens.  If  they  take 
Punch's  motto  for  Cazembe,  '  Niggers  don't  require  to  be 
shot  here,'  as  their  own,  they  may  show  themselves  to  be 
men  ;  but,  whether  they  do  or  not,  Cazembe  will  show  him- 
self a  man  of  sterling  good  sense.  Now,  these  people,  so 
like  ourselves  externally,  have  genuine  human  souls.  Rua, 
a  very  large  section  of  country  north  and  west  of  Ca- 
zembe's,  but  still  in  the  same  inland  region,  is  peopled 
by  men  ver}T  like  those  of  Insama  and  Cazembe. 

"  An  Arab,  Said-bin-Habib,  went  to  trade  in  Rua  two 
years  ago  ;  and,  as  the  Arabs  usually  do  when  the  natives 
have  no  guns,  Said-bin-Habib's  elder  brother  carried 
matters  with  a  high  hand.  The  Rua  men  observed  that 
the  elder  brother  slept  in  a  white  tent,  and,  pitching  their 
spears  into  it  by  night,  killed  him.  As  Moslems  never 
forgive  bloodshed,  the  younger  brother  forthwith  ran  at 
all  indiscriminately  in  a  large  district.  Let  it  not  be 
supposed  that  any  of  these  people  are,  like  the  American 
Indians,  insatiable,  bloodthirsty  savages,  who  will  not 
be  reclaimed,  or  enter  into  terms  of  lasting  friendship 
with  fair-dealing  strangers.  Had  the  actual  murderers 
been  demanded,  and  a  little  time  been  granted,  I  feel 
morally  certain,  from  man}7  other  instances  among  tribes, 
who,  like  the  Ra  Rua,  have  not  been  spoiled  by  Arab 
traders,  they  would  all  have  been  given  up.  The  cliiefs  of 
the  country  would,  first  of  all,  have  specified  the  crime  of 
which  the  elder  brother  was  guilty,  and  who  had  been  led 
to  avenge  it.  It  is  very  likely  that  they  would  stipulate 
that  no  other  should  be  punished  but  the  actual  perpetra- 


DEATHS  FROM  HOMESICKNESS. 


303 


cor.  Domestic  slaves,  acting  under  his  orders,  would  be 
considered  free  from  blame.  I  know  of  nothing  that 
distinguishes  the  uncontaminated  Africans  from  other 
degraded  peoples  more  than  their  entire  reasonableness 
and  good  sense.  It  is  different  after  they  have  had  wives, 
children,  and  relations  kidnapped ;  but  that  is  more  than 
human  nature,  civilized  or  savage,  can  bear.  In  the  case 
in  question,  indiscriminate  slaughter,  capture,  and  plunder 
took  place.  A  very  large  number  of  very  fine  young  men 
were  captured,  and  secured  in  chains  and  wooden  yokes. 
I  came  near  the  party  of  Said-bin-Habid,  close  to  the 
point  where  a  huge  rent  in  the  mountains  of  Rua  allows 
the  escape  of  the  River  Lualaba  out  of  Lake  Moero  ;  and 
here  I  had  for  the  first  time  an  opportunity  of  observing 
the  differences  between  slaves  and  freemen  made  captives. 
When  fairly  across  Lualaba,  Said  thought  his  captives 
safe,  and  got  rid  of  the  trouble  of  attending  to  and 
watching  the  chained  gang  by  taking  off  both  chains  and 
yokes.  All  declared  their  joy  and  perfect  willingness  to 
follow  Said  to  the  end  of  the  world  or  elsewhere  ;  but  next 
morning  twenty- two  made  clear  off  to  the  mountains. 
Many  more,  in  seeing  the  broad  Lualaba  roll  between 
them  and  the  homes  of  their  infancy,  lost  all  heart ;  and 
in  three  days  eight  of  them  died.  They  had  no  complaint 
but  pain  in  the  heart ;  and  they  pointed  out  its  seat  cor- 
rectly, though  many  believe  that  the  heart  is  situated 
underneath  the  top  of  the  sternum  or  breast-bone.  This 
to  me  was  the  most  startling  death  I  ever  saw.  They 
evidently  died  of  broken-heartedness ;  and  the  Arabs 
wondered,  seeing  they  had  plenty  to  eat.  I  saw  others 
perish,  particularly  a  very  fine  boy  of  ten  or  twelve  years 
of  age.  When  asked  where  he  felt  ill,  he  put  his  hand 
correctly  and  exactly  over  the  heart.    He  was  kindly 


304  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


earned,  and,  as  he  breathed  out  his  soul,  was  laid  gently 
on  the  side  of  the  path.  The  captors  were  not  usually 
cruel:  they  were  callous,  —  slavery  had  hardened  their 
hearts. 

.  .  .  "I  once  saw  a  party  of  twelve  who  had  been 
slaves  in  their  own  country, — Lunda,  or  Londa,  —  of 
which  Cazembe  is  chief  in  general.  They  were  loaded 
with  large  heavy  wooden  yokes,  which  are  forked  trees 
about  three  inches  in  diameter,  and  seven  or  eight  feet 
long.  The  neck  is  inserted  in  the  fork,  and  an  iron  bar 
driven  in  across  from  one  end  of  the  fork  to  the  other, 
and  riveted  ;  the  other  end  is  tied  at  night  to  a  tree,  or  to 
the  ceiling  of  a  hut ;  and  the  neck  being  firm  in  the  fork, 
the  slave  is  held  off  from  unloosing  it.  It  is  excessively 
troublesome  to  the  wearer  ;  and,  when  marching,  two  yokes 
are  tied  together  by  their  free  ends,  and  loads  put  on  the 
slaves'  heads  besides.  Women,  having  in  addition  to  the 
yoke  and  load  a  child  on  the  back,  have  said  to  me  on 
passing,  c  They  are  killing  me !  if  they  would  take  off 
the  yoke,  I  could  manage  the  load  and  child  ;  but  I  shall 
die  with  the  loads.'  One  who  spoke  thus  did  die ;  and 
the  poor  little  girl,  her  child,  perished  of  starvation.  I 
interceded  for  some  ;  but,  when  unyoked,  off  they  bounded 
into  the  long  grass,  and  I  was  gently  blamed  for  not 
caring  to  preserve  the  owner's  property.  After  a  day's 
march  under  a  broiling  vertical  sun,  with  yokes  and 
heav}*  loads,  the  strongest  are  exhausted.  The  party  of 
twelve  above  mentioned  were  sitting  singing  and  laugh- 
ing. '  Hallo  ! '  said  I,  '  these  fellows  take  to  it  kindly  : 
this  must  be  the  class  for  whom  philosophers  say  slavery 
is  the  natural  state.'  And  I  went  and  asked  the  cause  of 
their  mirth.  I  had  to  ask  the  aid  of  their  owner  as  to 
the  meaning  of  the  word  rukha,  which  usually  means  to 


ABUNDANCE  OF  IVORY. 


305 


fly  or  leap.  They  were  using  it  to  express  the  idea  of 
haunting,  as  a  ghost,  and  inflicting  disease  and  death; 
and  the  song  was,  '  Yes,  we  are  going  away  to  Manga 
(abroad  in  white  man's  land)  with  yokes  on  our  necks ; 
but  we  shall  have  no  yokes  in  death.  And  we  shall 
return  to  haunt  and  kill  you.'  The  chorus  then  struck  in 
with  the  name  of  the  man  who  had  sold  each  of  them ; 
and  then  followed  the  general  laugh,  in  which  at  first  I 
saw  no  bitterness.  Perembe,  an  old  man  of  at  least  one 
hundred  and  four  years,  had  been  one  of  the  sellers.  In 
accordance  with  African  belief,  they  had  no  doubt  of  being 
soon  able,  by  ghost  power,  to  kill  even  him.  Their  refrain 
might  be  rendered,  — 

Oh,  oh,  oh, ! 

Bird  of  freedom,  oh! 

You  sold  me,  oh,  oh,  oh! 

I  shall  haunt  you,  oh,  oh,  oh!' 

The  laughter  told  not  of  mirth,  but  of  tears  of  such  as 
were  oppressed,  and  they  had  no  comforter." 

No  slave  hunters  or  traders  had  ever  entered  the  Man- 
yema  country  until  about  the  time  of  Dr.  Livingstone's 
visit:  consequently,  "the  value  of  ivory  was  quite  un- 
known. Indeed,  the  tusks  were  left  in  the  forests,  with 
the  other  bones,  where  the  animals  had  been  slain :  many 
were  rotten ;  others  were  gnawed  by  a  rodent  animal  to 
sharpen  his  teeth,  as  London  rats  do  on  leaden  pipes.  If 
civilly  treated,  the  people  went  into  the  forests  to  spots 
where  they  knew  elephants  had  been  killed  either  by  traps 
or  spears,  and  brought  the  tusks  for  a  few  copper  brace- 
lets. I  have  seen  parties  return  with  so  much  ivory,  that 
they  carried  it  by  three  relays  of  hundreds  of  slaves. 
But  even  this  did  not  satisfy  human  greed.    The  Man- 

26* 


306  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


yema  were  found  to  be  terrified  by  the  report  cf  guns : 
some,  I  know,  believed  them  to  be  supernatural ;  for, 
when  the  effects  of  a  musket-ball  was  shown  on  a  goat, 
they  looked  up  to  the  clouds,  and  offered  to  bring  ivory  to 
buy  the  charm  by  which  lightning  was  drawn  down. 
When  a  village  was  assaulted,  the  men  fled  in  terror,  and 
women  and  children  were  captured. 

"Many  of  the  Manyema  women,  especially  far  down 
'.he  Lualaba,  are  very  light  colored  and  lovely :  it  was 
common  to  hear  the  Zanzibar  slaves  —  whose  faces  resem- 
bled the  features  of  London  door-knockers,  which  some 
atrocious  ironfounder  thought  were  like  those  of  lions — say 
to  each  other  c  Oh,  if  we  had  Manyema  wives,  what  pretty 
children  we  should  get ! '  Manyema  men  and  women  are 
vastly  superior  to  the  slaves,  who  evidently  felt  the  in- 
feriority they  had  acquired  through  wallowing  in  the  mire 
of  bondage.  Many  of  the  men  were  tall,  strapping  fellows, 
with  but  little  of  what  we  think  distinctive  of  the  negro 
about  them.  If  one  relied  on  the  teachings  of  phrenology, 
the  Manyema  men  would  take  a  high  place  in  the  human 
family.  They  felt  their  superiority,  and  often  said  truly, 
1  Were  it  not  for  fire-arms,  not  one  of  the  strangers  would 
ever  leave  our  country.'  If  a  comparison  were  instituted, 
and  Manyema  taken  at  random,  placed  opposite,  say,  the 
members  of  the  Anthropological  Society  of  London,  clad 
like  them  in  kilts  of  grass-cloth,  I  should  like  to  take  my 
place  alongside  the  Man}Tema,  on  the  principal  of  prefer- 
ring the  company  of  my  betters :  the  philosophers  would 
look  wofully  scraggy.  But  though  the  4  inferior  race,'  as 
we  compassionately  call  them,  have  finely -formed  heads, 
anl  often  handsome  features,  they  are  undoubtedly  can- 
nibals. .  .  . 

"The  country  abounds  in  food  of  all  kinds,  and  the 


THE  MAN  YE  MA  WOMEN. 


307 


rich  soil  raises  every  thing  in  great  luxuriance  A  friend 
of  mine  tried  rice  ;  and  in  between  three  or  foui  months  it 
yielded  between  one  hundred  and  twenty  fold.  .  .  . 
Maize  is  so  abundant  that  I  have  seen  forty-five  loads, 
each  about  sixty  pounds,  given  for  a  single  goat.  .  .  . 
The  villages  swarm  with  goats,  sheep,  dogs,  pigs,  and 
fowls ;  while  the  elephants,  buffaloes,  zebras,  and  sokos, 
or  gorillas,  yield  to  the  expert  hunter  plenty  of  nitrogen- 
ous ingredients  of  human  food.  It  was  puzzling  to  me 
why  they  should  be  cannibals.  ...  They  say  that  human 
flesh  is  not  equal  to  that  of  goats  or  pigs :  it  is  saltish, 
and  makes  them  dream  of  the  dead.  Why  fine-looking 
men  like  them  should  be  so  low  in  the  moral  scale,  can 
only  be  attributed  to  the  non-introduction  of  that  religion 
which  makes  those  distinctions  among  men  which  phre- 
nology and  other  ologies  cannot  explain.  .  .  . 

"  The  Manyema  women,  especially  far  down  the  Lua- 
laba,  are  very  pretty  and  very  industrious.  The  market 
is  with  them  a  great  institution  ;  and  they  work  hard  and 
carry  far,  in  order  to  have  something  to  sell.  All  are 
dressed  in  their  best,  — gaudy-colored,  many-folded  kilts, 
that  reach  from  the  waist  to  the  knee.  When  two  thou- 
sand or  three  thousand  are  together,  they  enforce  justice, 
though  chiefly  women  ;  and,  they  are  so  eager  traders,  they 
set  off  in  companies  by  night,  and  begin  to  run  as  soon  as 
they  come  within  the  hum  arising  from  hundreds  of  voices. 
To  haggle  and  joke  and  laugh  and  cheat,  seems  to  be 
the  dearest  enjoyment  of  their  life.  They  confer  great 
benefits  upon  each  other.  The  Bazenza  women  are  ex- 
pert livers  for  oysters  ;  and  they  barter  them  and  fish  for 
farinaceous  food  with  the  women  on  the  east  of  the  Lua- 
laba ,  who  prefer  cultivating  the  soil  to  fishery.  The  Man- 
yema have  told  us  that  women  going  to  market  wero 


508  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  1L.D. 


never  molested.  When  the  men  of  two  districts  were  en- 
gaged in  actual  hostilities,  the  women  passed  through 
from  one  market  to  another  unharmed  :  to  take  their  goods, 
even  in  war,  was  a  thing  not  to  be  done." 

Sometimes  the  great  traveller  met  with  a  cold  reception, 
from  his  supposed  connection  with  Arab  slavers  and  rob- 
bers. "  In  going  west  of  Bambarre,"  he  says,  "in 
order  to  embark  on  the  Lualaba,  ...  I  found  myself 
among  people  who  had  been  lately  maltreated  by  the 
slaves  ;  and  they  naturally  looked  on  me  as  of  the  same 
tribe  as  their  persecutors.  Africans  are  not  generally  un- 
reasonable, though,  smarting  under  wrongs,  if  you  can 
fairly  make  them  understand  your  claim  to  innocence,  and 
do  not  appear  as  having  your  back  up.  The  women  here 
were  particularly  outspoken  in  asserting  our  identity  with 
the  cruel  strangers.  On  calling  to  one  vociferous  lady, 
who  gave  me  the  head  traitor's  name,  to  look  at  my  color, 
and  see  if  it  were  the  same  as  his,  she  replied  with  a  bitter 
little  laugh,  1  Then  you  must  be  his  father ! '  The  most 
the  men  did  was  to  turn  out  in  force,  armed  with  large 
spears  and  wooden  shields,  and  show  us  out  of  their  dis- 
trict." 

At  Bambarre  Dr.  Livingstone  was  laid  up  with  ulcers 
on  his  feet  for  over  six  months.  He  says,  "  I  found  con- 
tinual wading  in  the  mud  grievous ;  for  the  first  time  in 
my  life,  my  feet  failed.  When  torn  by  hard  travel,  instead 
of  healing  kindly  as  heretofore,  irritable  eating  ulcers  fas- 
tened on  each  foot.  If  the  foot  is  placed  on  the  ground, 
blood  flows ;  and  every  night  a  discharge  of  bloody  ichor 
takes  place,  with  pain  that  prevents  sleep.  The  wailing 
of  the  poor  slaves  with  ulcers  that  eat  through  every 
thing,  even  bone,  is  one  of  the  night  sounds  of  a  slave- 
camp.    They  are  probably  allied  to  fever.    The  people 


NARROW  E8CAPF 


309 


are  invariably  civil,  and  even  kind ;  for,  curiously  enoi  gh, 
the  Zanzibar  slaves  propagated  everywhere  glowing  ac- 
counts of  my  goodness,  and  of  the  English  generally,  be- 
cause they  never  made  slaves." 

Sometimes  Livingstone  had  a  narrow  escape  with  his 
life,  from  being  found  in  company  with  traders  who  had 
ill-used  the  Manyema.  On  his  way  to  Bambarre,  he  says, 
"  We  passed  another  camp  of  Ujijian  traders  ;  and  they 
begged  me  to  allow  their  men  to  join  my  party.  These  in- 
cluded seventeen  men  of  Manyema,  who  had  volunteered 
to  carry  ivory  to  Ujiji.  These  were  the  very  first  of  the 
Manyema  who  had  in  modern  times  gone  fifty  miles  from 
their  birthplace.  As  all  the  Arabs  have  been  enjoined  by 
Seyed  Majid,  the  late  sultan,  to  show  me  all  the  kindness 
in  their  power,  I  could  not  decline  their  request.  My 
party  was  increased  to  eighty ;  and  a  long  line  of  men, 
bearing  elephants'  tusks,  gave  us  all  the  appearance  of 
traders.  The  only  cloth  I  had  left  some  months  before 
consisted  of  two  red  blankets,  which  were  converted  into 
a  glaring  dress,  unbecoming  enough ;  but  there  were  no* 
Europeans  to  see  it.  '  The  maltreated  men '  (Manyema, 
who  had  been  wronged  by  the  traders) ,  now  burning  for 
revenge,  remembered  the  dress ;  and,  very  naturally,  tried 
to  kill  the  man  who  had  murdered  their  relations.  They 
would  hold  no  parley.  We  had  to  pass  through  five  hours  of 
forest,  with  vegetation  so  dense,  that,  by  stooping  dowr. 
and  peering  towards  the  sun,  we  could  at  times  only  see 
a  shadow  moving,  and  the  slight  rustle  in  the  rank  vegeta- 
tion was  a  spear  thrown  from  the  shadow  of  an  infuriated 
man.  Our  people  in  front  peered  into  every  little  open- 
ing in  the  dense  thicket  before  they  would  venture  past 
it.  This  detained  the  rear,  and  two  persons  near  to  me 
were  slain.    A  large  spear  lunged  past  close  behind; 


310  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

another  missed  me  by  about  a  foot  in  front.  Coming  to  a 
part  of  the  forest  of  about  a  hundred  yards  cleared  for 
cultivation,  I  observed  that  fire  had  been  applied  to  one 
of  the  gigantic  trees,  made  still  higher  by  growing  on  an 
ant-hill  twenty  or  more  feet  high.  Hearing  the  crack 
that  told  the  fire  had  eaten  through,  I  felt  that  there  was 
no  danger,  it  looked  so  far  away,  till  it  appeared  coming 
right  down  towards  me.  I  ran  a  few  paces  back  ;  and  it 
came  to  the  ground,  only  one  yard  off,  broke  in  several 
lengths,  and  covered  me  with  a  cloud  of  dust.  My  attend- 
ants ran  back,  exclaiming,  4  Peace,  peace  !  you  will  finish 
your  work  in  spite  of  all  these  people,  and  in  spite  of 
every  thing ! '  I,  too,  took  it  as  an  omen  of  good,  that 
I  had  three  narrow  escapes  from  death  in  one  day. 
The  Manyema  are  expert  in  throwing  the  spear ;  and 
as  I  had  a  glance  of  him  whose  spear  missed  by  less 
than  an  inch  behind,  and  he  was  not  ten  yards  off,  I 
was  saved  clearly  by  the  good  hand  of  the  almighty 
Preserver  of  men.  I  can  say  this  devoutly  now ;  but 
in  running  the  terrible  gauntlet  for  five  weary  hours 
among  furies,  all  eager  to  signalize  themselves  by  slay- 
ing one  they  sincerely  believed  to  have  been  guilty  of  a 
horrid  outrage,  no  elevated  sentiment  entered  the  mind. 
The  excitement  gave  way  to  overpowering  weariness  ;  and 
I  felt,  as  I  suppose  soldiers  do  on  the  field  of  battle,  — not 
courageous,  but  perfectly  indifferent  whether  I  were  killed 
or  not/" 

The  real  slave-dealers  are  thus  exposed  by  Dr.  Living- 
stone. "The  Banian  British  subjects  have  long  been, 
and  are  now,  the  chief  propagators  of  the  Zanzibar  slave- 
trade  :  their  money,  and  often  their  muskets,  gunpowder, 
balls,  flints,  beads,  brass  wire,  and  calico,  are  annually 
advanced  to  the  Arabs,  at  enormous  interest,  for  the  mur 


TROUBLES  WITH  THE  BANIANS.  311 

derous  work  of  slaving,  of  the  nature  of  which  every 
Banian  is  fully  aware.  Having  mixed  much  with  the 
Arabs  in  the  interior,  I  soon  learned  the  whole  system 
that  is  called  4  butchee.'  Banian  trading  is  simply  ma- 
rauding and  murdering  by  the  Arabs,  at  the  instigation 
and  by  the  aid  of  our  Indian  fellow- subjects.  The  cun- 
ning Indians  secure  nearly  all  the  profits  of  the  caravans 
they  send  inland,  and  very  adroitly  let  the  odium  of 
slaving  rest  on  their  Arab  agents.  ...  It  is  a  mistake 
to  call  the  system  of  Ujiji  slave-4  trade '  at  all :  the  cap- 
tives are  not  traded  for,  but  murdered  for  ;  and  the  gangs 
that  are  dragged  eastwards  to  enrich  the  Banians  are 
usually  not  slaves,  but  captive  free  people.  A  sultan  anx- 
ious to  do  justly,  rather  than  pocket  head-money,  would 
proclaim  them  all  free  as  soon  as  they  reached  his  terri- 
tory. .  .  . 

"  I  cannot  say  that  I  am  altogether  free  from  chagrin 
in  view  of  the  worry,  thwarting,  baffling,  which  the  Ba- 
nians and  their  slaves  have  inflicted.  Common  traders 
procure  supplies  of  merchandise  from  the  coast,  and  send 
loads  of  ivory  down  by  the  same  pagazi  or  carriers  we 
employ,  without  any  loss.  But  the  Banians  and  their 
agents  are  not  their  enemies.  I  have  lost  more  than  two 
years  in  time,  have  been  burdened  with  eighteen  hundred 
miles  of  tramping,  and  how  much  waste  of  money  I  can- 
not say,  through  my  affairs  having  been  committed  to 
Banians  and  slaves,  who  are  not  men.  I  have  adhered,  in 
spite  of  losses,  with  a  sort  of  John-Bullish  tenacity,  to  my 
task  ;  and  while  bearing  misfortune  in  as  manly  a  way  as 
possible,  it  strikes  me  that  it  is  well  that  I  have  been 
brought  face  to  face  with  the  Banian  system,  that  inflicts 
enormous  evils  on  Central  Africa.  Gentlemen  in  India, 
who  see  only  the  wealth  brought  to  Bombay  and  Cutch, 


312  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


and  know  that  the  religion  of  the  Banians  does  not  allow 
them  to  harm  a  fly  or  mosquito,  are  virtually  the  worst 
cannibals  in  all  Africa.  The  Manj^ema  cannibals,  among 
whom  I  spent  nearly  two  years,  are  innocence  compared 
with  our  protected  Banian  fellow- subjects.  .  .  .  The 
Banians,  having  complete  possession  of  the  custom- 
house and  revenue  of  Zanzibar,  enjoy  ample  opportunity 
to  aid  and  conceal  the  slave-trade,  and  all  fraudulent 
transactions  committed  by  their  agents.  .  .  .  Geogra- 
phers-  will  be  interested  to  know  the  plan  I  propose  to  fol- 
low. I  shall  at  present  avoid  Ujiji,  and  go  about  south- 
west from  this  to  Fipa,  which  is  east  of  and  near  the 
south  end  of  Tanganyika ;  then  round  the  same  south 
end,  only  touching  it  again  at  Sambetti ;  thence  resuming 
the  south-west  course  to  cross  the  Chambezi,  and  proceed 
along  the  southern  shores  of  Lake  Bangweolo,  which 
being  in  latitude  12°  south,  the  course  will  be  due  west  to 
the  ancient  fountains  of  Herodotus.  From  them  it  is 
about  ten  days  north  to  Katanga,  the  copper  mines  of 
which  have  been  worked  for  ages.  .  .  .  About  ten  days 
north-east  of  Katanga  very  extensive  underground  rock 
excavations  deserve  attention  as  very  ancient,  the  natives 
ascribing  their  formation  to  the  Deity  alone.  They  are 
remarkable  for  having  water  laid  on  in  running  streams  ; 
and  the  inhabitants  of  large  districts  can  all  take  refuge 
in  them  in  case  of  invasion.  Returning  from  them  to 
Katanga,  twelve  days  N.N.W.,  will  take  to  the  southern 
end  of  Lake  Lincoln.  I  wish  to  go  down  through  it  to 
the  Lomarae.  and  into  Webb's  Lualaba,  and  home." 

How  much  of  this  programme  he  had  successfully 
carried  out  up  to  the  time  of  his  reported  death,  we  will 
not  know  until  his  papers  are  received.  It  is  gratif}ing 
to  be  able  to  say,  that  the  misunderstanding  in  regard  to 


PRIVATIONS. 


313 


his  old  friend  Dr.  Kirk  was  cleared  away  previous  to  the 
last  time  of  our  hearing  from  him.  Of  the  work  of  ex- 
ploration still  to  be  done  he  spoke  cheerfully  and  hope- 
full}'.  He  sa3's,  "  I  know  about  six  hundred  miles  of  the 
watershed  pretty  fairly :  I  turn  to  the  seventh  hundred 
miles  with  pleasure  and  hope.  I  want  no  companion 
now,  though  discovery  means  hard  work.  Some  can 
make  what  they  call  theoretical  discoveries  b}T  dreaming. 
I  should  like  to  offer  a  prize  for  an  explanation  of  the  cor- 
relation of  the  structure  and  econonry  of  the  watershed, 
with  the  structure  and  economy  of  the  great  lacustrine 
rivers  in  the  production  of  the  phenomena  of  the  Nile. 
The  prize  cannot  be  undervalued  by  competitors,  even  who 
ma}7  have  only  dreamed  of  what  has  given  me  very  great 
trouble,  though  the}^  may  have  hit  on  the  division  of 
labor  in  dreaming,  and  each  discovered  one  or  two  hun- 
dred miles.  In  the  actual  discovery  so  far,  I  went  two 
.years  and  six  months  without  once  tasting  tea,  coffee,  or 
sugar  ;  and,  except  at  Ujiji,  have  fed  on  buffaloes,  rhinoce- 
ros, elephants,  hippopotami,  and  cattle  of  that  sort ;  and 
have  come  to  believe  that  English  roast-beef  and  plum- 
pudding  must  be  the  real  genuine  theobroma,  the  food  of 
the  gods ;  and  I  offer  to  all  successful  competitors  a  glori- 
ous feast  of  beef-steaks  and  stout.  No  competion  will  be 
allowed  after  I  have  published  my  own  explanation,  on 
pain  of  immediate  execution,  without  benefit  of  clergy." 

A  brief  outline  of  Dr.  Livingstone's  journeyings,  and 
their  results,  so  far  as  known,  will  enable  the  reader  to 
understand  a  little  more  clearly  what  he  has  been  about 
since  he  entered  Africa  for  the  third  time  in  1866.  From 
the  Lake  N}Tassa  district  until  he  left  Cazembe's  country, 
he  was  travelling  in  regions  to  some  extent  known  to  us 
through  his  own  previous  explorations,  and  those  of  Por- 

27 


314  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

tuguese  travellers.  Beyond  Cazembe's  country,  either  to 
the  north  or  the  west,  lay  a  vast  extent  of  country  totally 
unknown  to  Europeans,  and  of  which  even  the  most  intel- 
ligent native  knew  only,  and  that  imperfectly,  a  narrow 
hem  of  from  fifty  to  a  hundred  miles  in  extent.  Cazembe 
was  first  made  known  to  us  by  Lacerda,  the  Portuguese 
traveller.  Livingstone  found  the  present  ruler  of  Ca- 
zembe to  be  a  most  kingly  savage.  He  describes  him  as 
a  tall,  stalwart  man,  wearing  a  peculiar  kind  of  dress 
made  of  crimson  print,  and  worn  in  many  folds,  in  the 
form  of  a  prodigious  kilt,  the  upper  part  of  his  body 
being  bare.  The  statement  of  the  traveller,  that  he  was 
going  north  in  search  of  lakes  and  rivers,  filled  him  with 
astonishment.  "What  can  you  want  to  go  therefor?" 
he  said.  "  The  water  is  close  here  !  There  is  plenty  of  large 
water  in  this  neighborhood  ! "  Cazembe  had  never  seen 
an  Englishman  before  ;  and  notwithstanding  that  he  could 
not  understand  this  water-seeker,  and  very  possibly 
thought  him  wrong  in  the  head,  or,  as  Livingstone  puts  it, 
that,  4  4  he  had  water  on  the  brain,"  he  gave  orders  to  his 
chiefs  and  people  that  the  traveller  was  to  be  allowed  to 
go  wherever  he  had  a  mind,  and  treated  him  with  much 
consideration. 

Cazembe's  queen,  described  as  a  fine,  tall  woman,  paid 
the  traveller  a  visit,  and  evidently  intended  to  give  him  a 
striking  idea  of  the  honor  done  him.  She  was  decked  out 
in  all  the  finery  her  wardrobe  could  muster,  and  was  armed 
with  a  ponderous  spear.  Following  her  was  a  body-guard 
of  Amazons,  also  armed  with  spears.  His  royal  visitor  and 
her  retinue,  and  their  dress  and  accoutrements,  did  astonish 
the  stranger,  but  not  in  the  way  intended.  He  burst  into 
an  uncontrollable  fit  of  laughter,  which  disconcerted  the 
royal  lady  for  a  moment ;  but,  recovering  herself,  slie  joined 


DISCOVERT  OF  NEW  LAKES. 


315 


heartily  in  the  laugh,  —  which  was  re-echoed  by  her  attend- 
ants, —  and  then  fled  from  his  presence  until  she  had  re- 
covered the  dignity  and  gravity  becoming  so  great  a  queen. 
The  Portuguese  assertion,  that  the  river  he  found  running 
to  the  north,  and  named  the  Chambezi,  was  or»e  of  the 
main  branches  of  the  Zambesi,  cost  him  many  a  month  of 
tedious  and  unprofitable  wandering.  Although  he  was  no* 
long  in  forming  doubts  as  to  the  truth  of  this  conclusion, 
the  similarity  in  name  made  him  cautious  in  accepting  his 
own  notions  regarding  it.  Up  and  down  and  across  its 
course  he  wandered  like  an  uneasy  spirit,  until  at  last 
the  conclusion  was  forced  upon  him,  that  it  flowed  to  the 
north,  and  could  be  none  other  than  the  head  waters  of 
the  Nile. 

Striking  away  to  the  north-east  of  Cazembe's  countiy, 
he  came  to  a  large  lake,  called  by  the  natives  Liemba,  from 
the  country  of  that  name  which  borders  it.  Following  its 
winding  shore  to  the  northwards,  he  found  it  to  be  a  con- 
tinuation of  Lake  Tanganyika.  Returning  to  the  southern 
end  of  the  lake,  he  crossed  the  Marungu  country,  and 
reached  Lake  Moero ;  and  finding  its  chief  influent  the 
Luapula,  he  ascended  its  course  to  the  point  where  it  flows 
out  of  Lake  Bangweolo  or  Bemba,  a  lake  as  large  as  Tan- 
ganyika itself.  The  most  important  feeder  of  this  lake  he 
found  to  be  the  Chambezi,  so  that  all  doubts  as  to  the 
course  of  that  river  were  set  at  rest.  In  the  hitherto  un- 
trodden land  to  the  north,  this  great  and  constantly  in- 
creasing volume  of  water  pursued  its  winding  course  ;  and 
he  braced  himself  up  to  the  effort  of  tracing  it  to  a  point 
where,  under  some  other  name,  it  was  already  well  known 
to  geographers.  From  this  lake  Livingstone,  in  the  first 
place,  went  to  Ujiji  on  Lake  Tanganyika,  where  he  hoped 
to  find  stores  awaiting  him,  and  where  he  could  recruit 


316  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


himself  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  arduous  task  he  had 
set  himself  to  accomplish.  From  his  letters  we  already 
know  how  sadly  he  was  disappointed  in  his  hopes  of 
material  aid  from  Zanzibar.  While  waiting  there  among 
rascally  Arab  traders  and  their  slaves,  and  equally  rascally 
natives  corrupted  by  their  association  with  those  worthless 
representatives  of  the  civilization  he  had  been  cut  off  from 
for  nearly  three  years,  he  longed  to  explore  the  shores  of 
Tanganyika,  and  settle  the  question  of  its  effluent ;  but 
Arabs  and  natives  alike  were  so  bent  on  plundering  him  for 
every  service  rendered,  he  was  compelled  to  abandon  his 
design.  Although  worn  in  body,  and  scantily  provided 
with  stores  and  followers,  he  determined,  in  June  1869,  to 
march  across  country  until  he  should  strike  the  great  river 
which  he  knew  flowed  northwards  out  of  Lake  Moero.  At 
Bambarre  in  Manyema  land,  as  we  know,  he  was  laid  up 
for  six  weary  months  with  ulcerated  feet.  So  soon  as  he 
recovered  he  set  off  in  a  northerly  direction,  and  after  sev- 
eral days'  journey  struck  the  main  artery  of  his  line  of 
drainage,  the  Lualaba,  a  magnificent  lacustrine  stream, 
with  a  width  of  from  one  to  three  miles.  This  great  stream 
pursues  so  erratic  a  course,  flowing  northward,  westward, 
and  even  southwards,  in  wide  loops,  that  he  was  frequently 
fairly  at  fault  as  to  its  ultimate  course.  Sometimes  he 
thought  he  was  working  away  at  the  Congo ;  but  at  last 
he  was  completely  satisfied  that  its  course  was  northward. 
After  following  it  up  to  its  outlet  from  Lake  Moero,  and 
confirming  its  consequent  identity  with  the  Luapula  and 
the  Chambezi,  he  retraced  his  steps,  and  saw  it  lose  itself 
in  Lake  Kamalondo.  As  many  of  the  great  streams  on 
the  watershed  were  named  Lualaba  by  the  natives,  he 
christened  the  stream  which  flows  from  Lake  Moero  to 
Lake  Kamalondo  "  Webb's  Lualaba,"  to  distinguish  it,  and 


HELP  FROM  MR.  STANLEY. 


317 


also  to  do  honor  to  one  of  his  oldest  friends,  M>  Webb 
of  JSTewstead  Abbey. 

Several  days  south-west  from  Kamalondo,  he  discovered 
another  lake,  called  by  the  natives  Chebungo.  This  he 
named  "Lake  Lincoln,"  in  honor  of  Abraham  Lincoln, 
President  of  the  United  States  during  the  war  of  secession. 
Its  principal  influent  he  named  "Young's  Lualaba,"  in 
honor  of  another  fast  friend,  Mr.  Young,  of  paraffin  oil 
celebrity  ;  "  Sir  Paraffin,"  as  Dr.  Livingstone  humorously 
designates  him.  The  waters  of  Lake  Lincoln  pass  into 
the  Lualaba  by  the  river  Loeki,  or  Lomame. 

The  river  which,  issuing  out  of  Lake  Kamalondo  and 
flowing  to  the  north,  was,  he  now  found,  the  central  or 
main  line  of  drainage  ;  and  he  named  it  the  Lualaba  proper. 
Although  sick  and  worn,  he  followed  its  course  as  far  as  4° 
south  latitude,  and  found  that  it  entered  another  lake, 
named  Uyangwe.  From  his  letters  we  know  how  the 
brave  and  dauntless  ,  traveller  was  compelled  to  turn  back 
when  so  near  to  the  termination  of  the  quest  he  had  suf- 
fered so  much  in  following  up  thus  far,  and  fall  back  to 
Djiji,  with  little  hopes  of  succor  arriving  there  from  the 
coast.  But  help  was  at  hand.  He  had  barely  settled 
down  to  what  he  feared  must  be  a  weary  waiting  for  help, 
when  Mr.  Stanley  made  his  appearance,  and  so  unex- 
pectedly, that  he  was  all  but  face  to  face  with  his  deliverer 
before  he  even  knew  that  any  traveller  with  a  white  skin 
was  in  search  of  him. 

What  the  result  of  his  explorations  after  parting  with 
Mr.  Stanley  at  Unyanyembe  may  be,  we  do  not  at  present 
know.  At  that  time  the  great  traveller  appeared  to  have 
no  doubt  but  that  the  Chambezi,  the  Luapula,  and  the 
Lualaba,  were  none  other  than  the  Nile ;  and  that  these 
were  connected  b>  a  series  of  lakes  and  shallow  lakelets 

27* 


318  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  LL.D. 


with  Petherick's  White  Nile,  which  issues  out  of  the  Bahr- 
Ghazal.  The  great  lake  in  4°  south  latitude,  into  which 
Dr.  Livingstone  found  that  the  Lualaba  flowed,  Mr.  Stanley 
conjectures  may  be  the  lake  discovered  by  the  Italian  trav  - 
eller  Piaggia.  If  Dr.  Livingstone  be  correct  in  his  conclu 
sions,  —  and  we  know  that  he  is  not  a  rash  theorizer, — 
the  Nile  is  the  second  longest  river  in  the  world,  and  flows 
2600  miles  in  a  straight  line,  or  700  miles  farther  than  we 
had  previously  supposed. 

Many  people  recognize  in  Lake  Tanganyika  the  true 
source  of  the  Nile  ;  others  adhere  to  the  notion  that  it  is 
connected  with  the  Lualaba,  and  is  one  of  the  feeders  of 
the  Congo ;  while  others  think  that  it  is  connected  with 
neither  of  these  great  rivers,  but  finds  an  outlet  for  its 
waters  to  the  eastward  into  the  Indian  Ocean  to  the  south 
of  Zanzibar.  A  lively  notion  of  the  difficulties  of  African 
travel  may  be  formed  from  the  fact  that  Burton  and  Speke 
were  in  its  neighborhood  for  three  months,  and  Livings- 
tone and  Stanley  for  even  a  longer  period,  and  yet  neither 
of  them  can  tell  where  its  effluent  is,  or  in  what  direction 
it  flows.  Dr.  Livingstone  speaks  positively  to  a  north- 
ward flow  of  the  waters  of  the  lake  ;  but,  as  we  have  seen, 
the  only  river  towards  the  north  yet  as  known  is  the  Ruizzi, 
and  it  flows  into  the  lake,  and  not  out  of  it,  as  had  been 
previously  supposed.  As  for  a  great  portion  of  its  circuit 
the  mountains  slope  down  into  the  lake,  which  is  very 
deep,  even  close  in  shore,  an  outlet  would  very  easily 
escape  the  notice  of  any  one  sailing  round  it.  Nothing  short 
of  a  land  circuit  will  satisfactorily  clear  up  the  direction 
of  its  waters.  Lake  Tangair^ika  is  believed  to  be  from 
three  to  four  hundred  miles  in  length,  by  about  sixty  miles 
in  breadth  at  its  widest  part ;  and  on  the  map  it  has  very 
much  the  shape  of  a  Wellington  boot,  with  the  foot  turned 


THEORIZERS. 


319 


eastward,  It  will  be  evident,  from  what  we  have  to  say 
farther  on,  that  Dr.  Livingstone  has  settled  the  question 
of  the  Nile  fountains ;  but  as  to  the  absolute  settlemer  t 
of  the  question  whether  the  Lualaba  shall  be  hereafter 
named  the  Congo  or  the  Nile,  we  cannot  at  present  speak. 
Our  present  scanty  information  as  to  his  later  move- 
ments adds  nothing  to  our  previous  stock  of  information 
on  that  vexed  point. 

Geographers  at  home  have  not  hesitated  to  theorize, 
and  have  almost  unanimously  gone  counter  to  Dr.  Living- 
stone's declared  impression  as  to  the  farther  course  of  the 
Lualaba.  With  wonderful  unanimity,  they  throw  aside 
the  belief  of  the  man  who  has  suffered  so  much  in  acquir- 
ing it,  and  insist  that  the  Lualaba  must  be  the  Congo. 
We  shall  be  curious  to  hear  what  they  will  say  for  them- 
selves if  it  should  turn  out,  as  we  believe  it  will,  that  he 
who  had  the  best  means  of  coming  to  a  conclusion  was 
right,  and  that  they  who  could  only  theorize  were  wrong. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


SIB    BARTLE    FRERE's    MISSION. — EXPEDITIONS     SENT  TO 

ASSIST  DR.  LIVINGSTONE.  HIS  DEATH.  SOME  ACCOUNT 

OF  HIS  FAMILY,  ETC. 

Dr.  Livingstone's  letters,  received  through  Mr.  Stan- 
ley, drew  such  a  frightful  picture  of  the  horrors  of  the 
East  African  slave-trade,  that  our  Government  determined 
to  use  its  powerful  influence  with  the  Sultan  of  Zanzibar 
for  its  suppression.  Sir  Bartle  Frere  was  sent  on  a  spe- 
cial mission  to  Zanzibar  in  November,  1872,  with  ample 
powers  accorded  to  him  for  bringing  strong  pressure  to 
bear  on  the  sultan  in  enforcing  and  carrying  out  the 
wishes  of  the  English  government.  The  United  States 
government  gave  its  hearty  co-operation ;  and  we  have 
every  reason  to  believe  that  the  objects  of  the  mission 
have  been  completely  attained.  About  the  same  time 
two  Central  African  expeditions,  for  the  relief  and  assist- 
ance of  Dr.  Livingstone,  were  fitted  out  in  this  country, 
and  sent,  the  one  to  the  east  and  the  other  to  the  west 
coast,  with  orders  to  converge,  by  way  of  the  Congo  and 
Zanzibar,  on  the  scene  of  the  traveller's  last  labors. 
Lieut.  Cameron,  R.N.,  took  the  command  of  the  East 
Coast  expedition ;  and  Lieut.  Grandy,  R.N.,  took  com- 
mand of  that  of  the  West  Coast.  No  intelligence  has  as 
yet  reached  this  country  from  the  latter  from  any  unknown 
regions.  Lieut.  Cameron's  expedition  unfortunately  got 
into  difficulties,  through  the  accidental  shooting  of  a  aa- 

320 


SICKNESS  AND  DEATH. 


321 


tive  by  one  of  his  followers.  He  was  detained  at  and 
near  Unyanyembe  on  account  of  the  disturbed  state  of  the 
country,  and  the  bad  health  of  the  European  members  of 
the  party.  All  of  them  had  suffered  from  repeated  at- 
tacks of  fever,  and  were  much  debilitated  in  consequence. 
A  grandson  of  Dr.  Livingstone's  father-in-law,  Mr;  Mof- 
fat, the  well-known*  missionary,  a  very  promising  young 
man,  fell  a  victim  to  fever  at  an  early  stage  of  the  jour- 
ney ;  and  recently  Lieut.  Cameron  had  to  report  the 
melancholy  intelligence  of  the  suicide  of  Dr.  Dillon, 
another  valued  coadjutor,  while  in  the  delirium  of  fever. 

Towards  the  end  of  January  a  telegram  from  Zanzibar 
reported  the  currency  of  a  rumor  there  that  Dr.  Living- 
stone had  died  near  Lake  Bangweolo.  On  the  11th  of 
February  a  despatch  to  the  Foreign  Office  from  H.  M. 
acting  consul  at  Zanzibar,  stated  that  letters  received 
from  Lieut.  Cameron,  dated  Oct.  22,  1873,  confirmed 
the  report.  "It  appears,"  writes  the  acting  consul, 
"from  the  information  given  to  Lieut.  Cameron  by  the 
doctor's  servant,  Elivant  Chumah,  that  Livingstone 
proceeded  from  Ujiji  to  the  middle  of  the  northern  shore 
of  Lake  Bemba  (Bangweolo)  ;  and  that,  being  unable  to 
csoss  it,  he  retraced  his  steps,  and  rounded  it  to  the  south- 
wards, crossing,  besides  the  Chambese,  three  other  rivers 
which  flowed  into  the  lake.  He  then  went  (so  far  as 
Lieut.  Cameron  is  able  to  make  out)  in  search  of  the 
ancient  fountains  of  Herodotus,  eventually  turned  to  the 
eastward,  and  crossed  the  Luapula.  After  marching  for 
some  days  through  an  extremely  marshy  country,  in 
which,  sometimes  for  three  hours  at  a  time,  the  water 
stood  above  the  waists  of  the  travellers,  the  doctor  suc- 
cumbed to  an  attack  of  dysentery,  which  carried  him  off 
after  an  illness  of  ten  or  fifteen  days.    During  this  trying 


822  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

journey  two  of  his  men  died  and  several  deserted.  The 
remainder,  seventy-nine  in  number,  disembowelled  the 
corpse,  and  embalmed  it  as  well  as  they  were  able  with 
salt  and  brandy.  On  nearing  Unyanyembe,  Chumah,  with 
a  few  others,  started  ahead  in  order  to  procure  supplies, 
as  the  party  was  nearly  starving  ;  and  the  remainder,  with 
the  body,  were  reported  to  be  distant  from  ten  to  twenty 
days'  march  from  Unyanyembe  at  the  date  of  Lieut.  Cam- 
eron's letter.  It  will  be  seen,  on  reference  to  Dr.  Living- 
stone's last  communication  to  your  lordships,"  dated  1st 
July,  1872,  that  the  account  given  by  the  doctor's  ser- 
vants of  his  latest  movements  agrees  in  the  main  with  the 
route  sketched  out  by  the  traveller  himself  before  leaving 
Unyanyembe.  His  intention  was  to  go  southwards  to 
Ujiji,  then  round  the  south  end  of  Tanganyika,  and, 
crossing  the  Chambese,  to  proceed  west  along  the  shore 
of  Lake  Bangweolo.  Being  then  in  latitude  12  degrees 
south,  his  wish  was  to  go  straight  west  to  the  ancient 
fountains  reported  at  the  end  of  the  watershed,  then  to 
turn  north  to  the  copper  mines  of  Katanga,  and,  after 
visiting  the  underground  excavations,  to  proceed  to  the 
head  of  Lake  Lincoln,  whence  he  would  retire  along  Lake 
Kamolando  towards  Ujiji  and  home.  He  distinctly  stated 
that  it  was  not  his  intention  to  return  northward  through 
the  Manyueme  (Manyema)  country ;  and,  as  he  estimated 
the  duration  of  the  journey  from  Ujiji  and  back  again  at 
eight  months,  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  infer  that  the 
design  had  been  completely  carried  out,  and  that  Living- 
stone was  on  his  homeward  journey  when  attacked  by  the 
disease  to  which  he  fell  a  victim.  This  supposition  is 
rendered  more  probable  by  the  fact  that  when  the  doctor 
left  Unyanyembe  he  was  well  supplied  with  stores  and 
provisions,  and  that  he  is  reported  by  his  servants  to  have 


NEWS  OF  HIS  DEATH  CONFIRMED.  323 


been  nearly  destitute  at  the  time  of  his  death.  ...  As  a 
mar]:  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  Dr.  Livingstone,  the 
flagstaff  of  this  agency  was  kept  at  half-mast  from  sun- 
rise to  sunset  on  the  5th  of  January.  This  example  was 
followed  by  His  Highness  the  Sultan,  by  Her  Majesty's 
ships-of-war  then  in  harbor,  '  The  Briton '  and  '  The 
Daphne/  and  by  the  consular  representatives  of  other 
foreign  powers  in  Zanzibar,  from  all  of  whom  I  received 
letters  of  condolence  on  the  death  of  this  eminent  explorer 
and  distinguished  servant  of  the  queen." 

Man}'  people  were  unwilling  to  believe  the  story  of  Dr. 
Livingstone's  death,  even  when  told  so  circumstantially, 
and  so  implicitly  credited  by  Lieut.  Cameron  and  the 
European  officials  at  Zanzibar.  He  had  been  so  frequently 
reported  as  dead,  and  had  turned  up  again,  patiently  and 
devotedly  carrying  out  his  self-imposed  task,  that  it  was 
difficult  to  believe  that  the  great  traveller  and  distinguished 
Christian  missionary  had  perished  wrhen  his  work  was  all 
but  concluded,  and  the  civilized  world  was  waiting  eagerly 
for  the  opportunity  of  showing  him  how  high  was  the 
respect  and  admiration  which  his  life  of  heroic  self- 
sacrifice  had  evoked. 

We  have  reason  to  believe  that  the  members  of  his  own 
family  in  Scotland,  hoping  against  hope,  had  refused  to 
accept  the  report  of  his  death  as  final.  The  brief  letter 
addressed  by  Lieut.  Murphy  to  Dr.  Kirk,  and  dated 
the  2Uth  of  January  last  from  Mpuapwa,  ten  days'  journey 
from  the  coast,  in  which  he  states  that  he  was  bringing 
the  body  of  Dr.  Livingstone  to  Zanzibar,  extinguished  the 
last  ray  of  hope  which  had  hitherto  afforded  some  comfort 
to  those  near  and  dear  to  him. 

When  Lieut.  Murphy  left  him,  Lieut.  Cameron, 
although  suffering  from  long-protracted  illness,  and  de* 


324  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


serted  by  many  of  his  followers,  was  preparing  to  start 
for  Ujiji  for  the  papers  left  there  by  Dr.  Livingstone. 

Official  instructions  have  been  sent  to  Zanzibar  that  his 
body  is  to  be  sent  to  England  immediately  on  its  arrival 
there.  It  is  understood  that  Dean  Stanley  has  spon- 
taneously offered  a  resting-place  for  the  remains  of  our 
great  countryman  in  Westminster  Abbey.  In  that  Val- 
halla of  the  greatest  and  best  of  England's  sons,  there  is 
no  name  more  worthy  of  the  nation's  honor  than  that  of 
David  Livingstone. 

No  higher  encomium  on  the  character  of  Dr.  Living- 
stone and  the  genuine  value  of  his  achievements  can  be 
passed  now  or  in  the  after-time,  than  the  devotion  of  his 
native  followers.  In  circumstances  of  no  common  trial 
and  difficulty  they  have  borne  the  body  of  their  loved 
leader  across  more  than  a  thousand  miles  of  all  but  path- 
less country.  No  doubt  Livingstone  himself  would  give 
the  directions  which  have  resulted  in  the  preservation  of 
his  body,  with  a  view  to  satisfying  his  f amity  and  the 
world  as  to  the  fate  which  had  befallen  him ;  but  the 
carrying  out  of  his  last  instructions  in  the  face  of  hunger 
and  fatigue  for  many  months  is  a  striking  instance  of  love 
and  fidelity  on  the  part  of  these  ignorant  men,  which  it  is 
to  be  hoped  will  not  be  allowed  to  pass  without  substan- 
tial reward. 

To  his  infinite  honor,  Mr.  Gladstone,  within  a  couple 
of  days  of  his  resigning  the  highest  office  under  the 
Crown,  —  in  circumstances  when  he  might  have  been  sup- 
posed to  be  thinking  of  nothing  save  the  inconstancy  of 
the  party  he  had  so  earnestly  served  for  five  years, — 
recommended  Her  Majesty  to  grant  a  pension  of  two  hun- 
dred pounds  per  annum  to  the  family  of  Dr.  Livingstone. 


MEMBERS  OF  HIS  FAMILY. 


325 


We  need  hardly  say  that  the  recommendation  was  imme- 
diately acted  upon. 

The  following  account  of  the  surviving  members  of  Dr. 
Livingstone's  family  will  not  be  without  interest  to  the 
reader :  — 

His  mother  died  in  1865.  Dr.  Livingstone  took  fre- 
quent opportunities  of  acknowledging  the  debt  he  owed 
to  the  Christian  example  set  him  by  his  parents.  Speak- 
ing at  a  banquet  held  in  his  honor  in  Hamilton,  in  Janu- 
ary, 1857,  he  said,  "A  great  benefit  which  his  parents 
had  conferred  on  him  and  their  other  children  was  reli- 
gious instruction  and  a  pious  example  ;  and  he  was  more 
grateful  for  that  than  though  he  had  been  born  to  riches 
and  worldly  honors."  Although  a  strict  disciplinarian, 
and  somewhat  stern  in  his  manner  towards  his  children. 
Dr.  Livingstone's  father  earned  the  respect  and  affection 
of  his  family  in  no  common  degree.  He  was  proud  of 
his  sons  and  the  positions  they  attained ;  and  more 
especially  was  he  proud  of  his  son  David,  as  a  great 
missionary  and  successful  explorer  of  hitherto  unknown 
regions.  The  regret  felt  by  Dr.  Livingstone  on  his  return 
to  this  country,  that  his  father  was  not  alive  to  hear  the 
stirring  story  of  his  adventures,  was  reciprocated  by  the 
longing  which  filled  the  mind  of  the  old  man  on  his  death- 
bed to  see  once  more  his  distinguished  son.  "The  Ham- 
ilton Advertiser"  of  Jan.  10,  1857,  speaking  of  Mr.  Neil 
Livingstone,  says, — 

"  Among  his  last  words  were,  '  O  Dauvit !  come  awa, 
man,  that  I  may  see  ye  before  I  dee.'  The  old  man's 
favorite  walk  in  the  later  years  of  his  life  was  to  the  woods 
near  the  ancient  Roman  bridge  near  Bothwell,  also  a  fre- 
quent resort  of  the  doctor's  when  a  youth,  and  where  he 
had  carved  his  name,  and  the  polemical  war  cry  of  tho 

28 


826  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


day,  '  No  State  Church,'  *  on  the  bark  of  a  tree,  —  wood- 
cuts which  it  was  his  father's  delight  to  decipher.  The 
letters  '  D.  L.'  have  grown  with  the  growth  of  the  tree, 
and  broadened  by  the  lapse  of  time,  as  has  the  fame  of 
their  owner." 

The  family  of  Xeil  Livingstone  erected  a  tombstone  to 
the  memory  of  their  parents  in  the  Hamilton  Cemetery 
The  inscription  on  it  is  one  of  the  met  touching  we 
remember  ever  to  have  seen.  We  cannot  resist  giving  a 
copy  of  it :  — 

TO  SHOW  THE  RESTESXt-PEACE 

OF   NEIL  LIVIXGSTOXE 
AXD  AGNES  HUNTER; 

AXD  TO  EXPRESS 
THE  THAXKFULXESS  TO  GOD 
OF  THEIR  CHTLDREX, 
JOHN',  DAVH>,  JANET,  CHARLES, 

AXD  AGXES, 
FOR  POOR  AXD  PIOUS  PAREXTS. 

Of  this  family,  the  two  best  known  to  the  general  pub- 
lic are  dead. 

Dr.  Livingstone's  eldest  brother  John  is  still  alive. 
He  emigrated  to  Xorth  America  in  early  life,  and  settled 
at  Listowel,  twenty-five  miles  from  Niagara  Falls,  as  a 
farmer  and  storekeeper.  He  is  a  man  of  energetic  char- 
acter, and  has  done  much  towards  the  improvement  of  a 


*  At  that  time  the  Voluntary  Controversy  was  agitating  the 
churches  in  Scotland,  and  the  "Ten  Years'  Conflict,"  which  ended 
in  the  disruption  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  was  at  its  height.  In 
his  manhood,  no  man  was  more  tolerant  as  to  the  question  of 
11  Creed"  than  Br.  I  ivingstone.  To  him  all  men  were  truly  "  breth- 
ren," who  honestly  and  uprightly  followed  after  Christ  and  his 
commandments. 


RESIDENCE  OF  HIS  FAMILY. 


327 


large  tract  of  county  all  but  unreclaimed  when  he  entered 
it.  Like  all  the  other  members  of  his  f amity,  he  is  re- 
spected  for  his  humble  and  unobtrusive  piet}7,  and  for  his 
uprightness  and  worth  as  a  man  of  the  world.  An  inde- 
fatigable representative  of  "The  New  York  Herald" 
visited  and  interviewed  him  in  1872,  and  treated  the 
readers  of  "The  Herald"  to  a  graphic  account  of  the 
old  gentleman  and  his  surroundings,  when  Mr.  Stanley 
and  his  discovery  of  Livingstone  were  attracting  univer- 
sal attention. 

Charles,  Dr.  Livingstone's  younger  brother,  and  his 
loved  companion  in  the  brief  holiday  hours  of  his  boy 
hood,  was  educated  for  the  ministry,  and  was  for  a  good 
many  years  pastor  of  one  of  the  New  England  Presbyte 
rian  churches.  He  shared  the  adventurous  spirit  of  his 
brother,  Dr.  Livingstone,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  accompa- 
nied him  on  his  second  expedition  to  the  Zambesi.  Re- 
turning to  England,  he  was  appointed  one  of  H.  M. 
consuls  to  the  West  Coast  of  Africa,  —  a  position  which 
gave  him  much  opportunity  for  doing  good  to  the  heathen, 
which  he  embraced  with  great  zeal  and  success.  Last 
year,  his  health  having  broken  down,  he  started  on 
his  return  to  England,  but  died  on  the  passage  home. 
Dr.  Livingstone's  sisters,  Janet  and  Agnes,  removed  with 
their  parents  to  Hamilton  in  1841,  where  they  still  reside. 
They  are  both  unmarried,  and  are  held  in  much  respect 
by  their  neighbors  for  their  Christian  character  and  genial 
worth. 

Dr.  Livingstone's  family  have  resided  principally  in 
Hamilton  since  his  departure  on  his  last  expedition  in 
1866.  His  eldest  son,  to  use  his  father's  weirds  in  a 
letter  to  Sir  Bartle  Frere  written  in  1868,  "  wandered  into 
the  American  war,"  and  must  have  been  killed,  as  he  has 


328  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE.  LL.D 


never  been  heard  of  since  the  close  of  one  of  the  early 
battles  before  Richmond.  His  second  son,  Mr.  Thomas 
E.  Livingstone,  represents  a  large  commercial  house  in 
Alexandria.  His  third  son,  Mr.  W.  Oswell  Livingstone, 
is  at  present  completing  his  medical  education  at  Glasgow 
University.  His  eldest  daughter,  who  was  a  great  favor- 
ite of  her  father,  and  to  whom  he  intrusted  the  custody  of 
his  papers  sent  home  by  Mr.  Stanley,  resides  in  Hamilton, 
where  her  younger  sister  is  at  present  receiving  her  edu- 
cation. 

Up  to  the  present  time,  the  Livingstone  family  have 
done  honor  to  the  injunction  of  their  progenitor  recorded 
at  page  nine.  At  a  time  when  the  morals  of  his  neigh- 
bors were  of  a  somewhat  loose  description,  he  did  not  on 
his  death-bed  tell  his  children  to  strive  to  be  distinguished 
or  to  become  rich,  but  to  be  honest,  as  all  their  forefathers 
had  been.  The  generations  of  his  successors,  with  whom 
the  achievements  of  Dr.  Livingstone  have  made  us  ac- 
quainted, have  more  than  obeyed  the  dying  counsel  of 
their  Highland  ancestor.  To  honesty  they  have  added 
godliness  ;  and  from  among  them  has  come  the  man  of  all 
others  in  this  nineteenth  century  who  will  stand  highest 
with  his  cojntrymen  for  the  noblest  human  characteris- 
tics,—  self-denial,  intrepidity,  and  love  to  God  and  his 
fellow-men.  His  life  from  early  manhood  has  been  a  con- 
tinual sacrifice  offered  up  for  the  material  and  spiritual 
welfare  of  a  vast  people  of  whose  existence  in  the  mys- 
terious heart  of  the  African  continent  modern  commerce 
and  Christian  missions  were  previously  unaware. 

That  he  should  have  died  on  his  homeward  journey, 
after  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  of  successful  explora- 
tion in  hitherto  unknown  countries,  is  a  dispensation  of 
Providence  to  which  we  must  reverently  bow.    His  fate 


A  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONARY. 


329 


forms  one  more  instance  in  the  annals  of  heroic  effort  and 
self-sacrifice,  where  the  human  instrument  of  God's  great 
.purpose  has  been  removed  in  the  very  hour  of  success, 
when  rest  and  peace,  and  human,  rewards  and  acknowl- 
edgments, were  awaiting  him  at  the  close  of  his  stirring 
conflict.  Though  weary,  worn,  and  broken  in  body,  we 
may  readily  believe  that  his  undaunted  spirit  remained  to 
him  at  the  last ;  and  he  would  be  thankful  to  God,  that  to 
him  had  been  given  a  rare  opportunity  of  preaching  the 
gospel  of  his  Master  to  thousands  of  benighted  heathens, 
who  had  never  before  heard  of  their  Eedeemer.  This, 
and  the  certainty,  that,  as  a  result  of  his  labors,  the  intro- 
duction of  Christianity  and  peaceful  commerce,  and  the 
suppression  of  slavery  among  the  millions  of  Central 
Africa,  would  be  only  a  question  of  time,  would  reconcile 
him  to  the  laying  down  the  burden  of  his  life  far  from 
home  and  kindred,  among  the  people  he  had  striven  so 
nobly  to  serve.  Of  late  years  the  magnitude  of  his  con- 
tributions to  our  geographical  knowledge  has  all  but  made 
us  forget  that  he  was  a  Christian  missionary  to  the 
heathen.  From  early  boyhood  this  was  his  cherished 
ambition ;  and  from  his  own  published  accounts,  and 
through  Mr.  Stanley,  we  know  that  he  never  lost  an  op- 
portunity of  going  about  his  Master's  work. 

28* 


CHAPTER  XVTII. 


ACCOUNT  OP  LAST  ILLNESS  AND  DEATH  OF  DR.  LIVINGSTONE. 

The  following  brief  account  of  the  last  moments  of  Dr. 
Livingstone  has  reached  us  as  the  last  £heet  of  this  narra- 
tive was  going  to  press.  It  was  sent  by  the  correspondent 
of  "  The  New  York  Herald  "at  Suez,  and  reached  England 
on  the  29th  of  March :  — 

"  '  The  Malwa*  (Peninsular  and  Oriental  steamer) 
arrived  off  Suez  at  eleven  on  Saturday  night,  having  Mr. 
Arthur  Laing  and  Jacob  Wainwright  on  board,  with  tho 
body  of  Livingstone. 

44  The  great  traveller  had  been  ill  with  chronic  dysen- 
tery for  several  months  past,  although  well-supplied  with 
stores  and  medicines  ;  and  he  seems  to  have  had  a  pre- 
sentiment that  this  attack  would  prove  fatal. 

44  He  rode  a  donkey  at  first,  but  was  subsequently 
carried,  and  thus  arrived  at  Ilala,  beyond  Lake  Bemba 
(Bangweolo),  in  Bisa  Country,  when  he  said  to  his  fol- 
lowers, 4  Build  me  a  hut  to  die  in.'  The  hut  was  built  by 
his  men,  who  first  of  all  made  him  a  bed.  It  is  stated 
that  he  suffered  greatly,  groaning  night  and  day.  On  the 
third  day  he  said,  4 1  am  very  cold  :  put  more  grass  over 
the  hut/ 

44  His  followers  did  not  speak  to  or  go  near  him.  Kit- 
umbo,  chief  of  Bisa,  however,  sent  flour  and  beans,  and 
behaved  well  to  the  party.  On  the  fourth  day  Living- 
stone became  insensible,  and  died  about  midnight.  Ma- 

330 


THE  BODY  PRESERVED. 


331 


juahra,  his  servant,  was  present.  His  last  entry  in  the 
diary  was  on  April  27.  He  spoke  much  and  sadly  of 
home  and  family.  When  first  seized,  he  told  his  follow- 
ers he  intended  to  exchange  every  thing  for  ivory  to  give 
to  them,  and  to  push  on  to  Ujiji  and  Zanzibar,  and  try 
to  reach  England.  On  the  day  of  his  death  these  men 
consulted  what  to  do,  and  the  Nassick  boys  determined  to 
preserve  the  remains.  They  were,  however,  afraid  to  in- 
form the  chief  of  Livingstone's  death ;  and  the  secretary, 
therefore,  removed  the  body  to  another  hut,  around  which 
he  built  a  high  fence  to  insure  privacy.  Here  they  opened 
the  body,  and  removed  the  internals,  which  were  placed  in 
a  tin  box,  and  buried  inside  the  fence  under  a  large  tree. 

4  6  Jacob  Wainwright  cut  an  inscription  on  the  tree  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

6  Dr.  Livingstone  died  on  May  4,  1873/ 

and  superscribed  the  name  of  the  head  man,  Susa.  •  The 
tody  was  then  preserved  in  salt,  and  dried  in  the  sun  for 
I  welve  days.  Kitumbo  was  then  informed  of  Livingstone's 
death  ;  upon  which  he  beat  drums,  fired  guns  as  a  token  of 
respect,  and  allowed  the  followers  to  remove  the  body, 
which  was  placed  in  a  coffin  formed  of  bark.  The  Nassick 
boys  then  journeyed  to  Uyanyembe  in  about  six  months, 
sending  an  advance  party  with  information  addressed  to 
Livingstone's  son,  which  met  Cameron.  The  latter  sent 
back  a  few  bales  of  cloth  and  powder.  The  body  arrived 
at  Unyanyembe  ten  days  after  advance  party,  and  rested 
there  a  fortnight.  Cameron,  Murphy,  and  Dillon  were 
together  there.  The  latter  was  very  ill,  blind,  and  his 
mind  was  affected.  He  committed  suicide  at  Kasakera, 
and  was  buried  there. 


552  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


"  Here  Livingstone's  remains  were  put  in  another 
bark  case,  smaller,  done  up  as  a  bale  to  deceive  the  na- 
tives, who  objected  to  the  passage  of  the  corpse,  which 
was  thus  carried  to  Zanzibar.  Livingstone's  clothing, 
papers,  and  instruments  accompanied  the  body.  It  may 
be  mentioned,  that,  when  ill,  Livingstone  prayed  much. 
At  Ilala  he  said,  6 1  am  going  home.' 

"  Webb,  the  American  consul  at  Zanzibar,  is  on  his 
way  home,  and  has  letters  handed  to  him  by  Murphy  from 
Livingstone  for  Stanley,  which  he  will  deliver  personally 
only.    Chumah  remains  at  Zanzibar. 

"  Geographical  news  follows.  After  Stanley's  depar- 
ture the  doctor  left  Unyairyembe,  rounded  the  south  end  of 
Lake  Tanganyika,  and  travelled  south  of  Lake  Bemba, 
or  Bangweolo,  crossed  it  south  to  north,  then  along  the 
east  side,  returning  north  through  marshes  to  Ilala.  All 
papers  are  sealed,  and  addressed  to  the  Secretary  of  State, 
in  charge  of  Arthur  Laing,  a  British  merchant  from  Zan- 
zibar.   Murphy  and  Cameron  remained  behind." 

Surely  this  is  one  of  the  most  affecting  stories  ever 
told !  Feeling  that  the  marvellous  physical  power  which 
had  hitherto  sustained  him  had  at  last  given  wa}^,  he  turned 
his  face  homeward  with  feverish  eagerness.  But  the  end  had 
come,  and  he  knew  it,  and  set  himself  to  die  among  his 
followers  as  became  a  hero  and  a  Christian.  We  are  in- 
debted to  a  daily  newspaper  *  for  suggesting  how  like  a 
passage  of  scripture  the  narrative  of  Jacob  Wainwright, 
his  negro  follower,  reads  :  "  He  rode  a  donkey,  but  sub- 
sequently was  carried,  and  thus  arrived  at  Ilala  beyond 
Lake  Bemba,  in  Bisa  Country,  when  he  said,  '  Build  me  a 
hut  to  die  in ' "     The  melancholy  order  was  obeyed. 


*  Newcastle  Daily  Chronicle,  March  31. 


SUICIDE  OF  DR.  DILLON. 


333 


u  The  hut  was  built  by  his  men,  who  first  made  him  a 
bed.  He  suffered  greatly,  groaning  day  and  night.  On 
the  third  day  he  said,  ' 1  am  very  cold :  put  more  grass 
ov<sr  the  hut. '  "  And  then  we  are  told  of  the  silent  be- 
havior of  his  followers  in  the  face  of  the  grim  enemy  of 
man.    They  did  not  speak  to  or  go  near  him. 

The  language  of  savage  tribes,  when  speaking  under 
strong  feeling,  is  frequently  characterized  by  remarkable 
force  and  beauty ;  and  here  was  a  tragedy  which  had  so 
moved  his  humble  and  ignorant  follower,  that,  in  narrating 
its  incidents,  he  rises  to  the  height  of  graphic  simplicity. 

"The Times  of  India"  (received  March  30)  publishes 
the  following,  in  despatch  from  its  correspondent  at  Zan- 
zibar, dated  Feb.  11  :  — 

u  Dr.  Dillon  and  Lieut.  Murphy  proceeded  to  Zanzibar 
with  the  remains  of  Dr.  Livingstone  ;  but  a  most  melan- 
cholly  misfortune  happened  on  their  way.  Dr.  Dillon, 
nearly  blind,  and  worn  out  with  fever,  committed  suicide 
on  the  way  down.  He  shot  himself  through  the  head, 
pulling  the  trigger  with  his  toe.  I  reiterate  my  former- 
statement,  that,  in  regard  to  this  expedition,  it  is  simply 
a  march  to  death.  They  had,  at  the  very  least,  a  six  or 
seven  years'  march  before  them.  All  the  funds  at  their 
command  were  expended,  and  before  six  months  they 
were  short  of  supplies.  The  expedition  is  vitally  broken 
up,  unless  Lieut.  Cameron  is  possessed  of  superhuman  en- 
durance." 

The  letters  received  from  Dr.  Livingstone,  and  pub- 
lished up  to  the  time  of  going  to  press,  were  all  written 
in  a  most  cheerful  spirit.  As  yet,  no  letter  written  after 
the  shadow  of  death  had  begun  to  fall  upon  him  has  been 
given  to  the  public.  The  most  interesting  letter  is  that 
addressed  to  Mr.  Gordon  Bennett,  giving,  as  it  does,  sc 


334  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


graphic  an  account  of  the  daily  life  of  a  Central  African 
family :  we  reproduce  the  bulk  of  it. 

M I  fear  that  a  portion  at  least  of  the  sympathy  in  England  for 
what  simple  folks  called  the  '  Southern  cause,'  during  the  American 
civil  war  was  a  lurking  liking  to  be  slaveholders  themselves.  One 
Englishman  at  least  tried  to  put  his  theory  of  getting  the  inferior 
race  to  work  for  nothing  into  practice.  He  was  brother  to  a  member 
of  parliament  for  a  large  and  rich  constituency  ;  and  when  his 
mother  died  she  left  him  two  thousand  pounds.  With  this 
he  bought  a  wagon  and  oxen  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
and  an  outfit  composed  chiefly  of  papier-mache"  snuff-boxes, 
each  of  which  had  a  looking-glass  outside  and  another  inside 
the  lid.  These,  he  concluded,  were  the  'sinews  of  war.' 
He  made  his  way  to  my  mission-station,  more  than  a 
thousand  miles  inland  ;  and  then  he  found  that  Ins  snuff-boxes 
would  not  even  buy  food.  On  asking  the  reason  for  investing  in 
that  trash,  he  replied,  that,  in  reading  a  book  of  travels,  he  saw  that 
the  natives  were  fond  of  peering  into  looking-glasses,  and  liked 
snuff  ;  and  he  thought  that  he  might  obtain  ivory  in  abundance  for 
these  luxuries.  I  gathered  from  his  conversation  that  he  had  even 
speculated  on  being  made  a  chief.  He  said  that  he  knew  a  young 
man  who  had  so  speculated  ;  and  I  took  it  to  be  himself.  "We  sup- 
ported him  for  about  a  couple  of  months,  but  our  stores  were  fast 
drawing  to  a  close.  We  were  then  recently  married,  and  the  young 
housekeeper  could  not  bear  to  appear  inhospitable  to  a  fellow-coun- 
tryman. I  relieved  her  by  feeling  an  inward  call  to  visit  another 
tribe.  '  Oh! '  said  our  dependent,  '  I  shall  go  too.'  '  You  had  better 
not,'  was  the  reply,  and  no  reason  assigned.  He  civilly  left  some  scores 
of  his  snuff-boxes,  but  I  could  never  use  them  either.  He  frequently 
reiterated,  '  People  think  these  blacks  stupid  and  ignorant ;  but,  by 
George!  they  would  sell  any  Englishman.' 

"I  may  now  give  an  idea  of  the  state  of  supreme  bliss,  for  the 
attainment  of  which  all  the  atrocities  of  the  so-called  Arabs  are 
committed  in  Central  Africa.  In  conversing  with  a  half-caste  Arab 
prince,  he  advanced  the  opinion,  which  I  believe  is  general  among 
them,  that  all  women  were  utterly  and  irretrievably  bad.  I 
admitted  that  some  were  no  better  than  they  should  be,  but  the 
majority  were  unmistakably  good  and  trustworthy.  He  insisted 
that  the  reason  why  we  English  allowed  our  wivos  so  niueh  Liberty 
was  because  we  did  not  know  them  so  well  as  Arabs  did.  'No,  no,' 
he  added, 1  no  woman  can  be  good,  —  no  Arab  woman,  —  no  English 


LETTER  TO  MR.  J.  G.  BENNETT. 


335 


woman  can  be  good  ;  all  must  be  bad  ; '  and  then  he  praised  his  own 
and  countrymen's  wisdom  and  cunning  in  keeping  their  wives  from 
ever  seeing  other  men.  A  rough  joke  as  to  making  themselves  turn- 
keys, or,  like  the  inferior  animals,  bulls  over  herds,  turned  the  edge 
of  his  invectives  ;  and  he  ended  by  an  invitation  to  his  harem  to  sh.  w 

that  he  could  be  as  liberal  as  the  English.    Capt.  S  ,  of  H.  M.  S. 

'Corvette,'  accepted  the  invitation,  also  to  be  made  everlasting 
friends  by  eating  bread  with  the  prince's  imprisoned  wives.  The 
prince's  mother,  a  stout  lady  of  about  forty-five,  came  first  into  the 
room  where  we  sat  with  her  son.  When  young  she  must  have  1  een 
very  pretty,  and  she  still  retained  many  of  her  former  good  looks. 
She  shook  hands,  inquired  for  our  welfare,  and  to  please  us  sat  on 
a  chair,  though  it  would  have  been  more  agreeable  for  her  to  squat 
on  a  mat.  She  then  asked  the  captain  if  he  knew  Admiral  Wyvil, 
who  formerly,  as  commodore,  commanded  at  the  Cape  Station. 

"  It  turned  out,  that,  many  years  before,  an  English  ship  was 
wrecked  at  the  island  on  which  she  lived ;  and  this  good  lady  had 
received  all  the  lady  passengers  into  her  house,  and  lodged  them 
courteously.  The  admiral  had  called  to  thank  her,  and  gave  her  a 
written  testimonial  acknowledging  her  kindness.  She  now  wished 
to  write  to  him  for  old  acquaintance  sake,  and  the  captain  promised 
to  convey  the  letter.  She  did  not  seem  to  confirm  her  son's  low 
opinion  of  women.  A  red  cloth  screen  was  lifted  from  a  door  in 
front  of  where  we  sat,  and  the  prince's  chief  wife  entered  in  gor- 
geous apparel.  She  came  forward  with  a  pretty,  jaunty  step,  and  with 
a  pleasant  smile  held  out  a  neat  little  sweet  cake,  off  which  we  each 
broke  a  morsel  and  ate  it.  She  had  a  fine  frank  address,  and  talked 
and  looked  just  as  a  fair  English  lady  does  who  wishes  her  husband's 
friends  to  feel  themselves  perfectly  at  home.  Her  large,  beautiful 
jet-black  eyes  riveted  the  attention  for  some  time  before  we  could 
notice  the  adornments,  on  which  great  care  had  evidently  been 
oestowed.  Her  head  was  crowned  with  a  tall  scarlet  hat  ox  nearly  the 
same  shape  as  that  of  a  Jewish  high  priest,  or  that  of  some  of  the 
lower  ranks  of  Catholic  clergymen.  A  tight-fitting  red  jacket,  pro- 
fusely decked  with  gold  lace,  reached  to  the  waist,  and  allowed 
about  a  finger's  breadth  of  the  skin  to  appear  between  it  and  the  upper 
edge  of  the  skirt,  which  was  of  white  Indian  muslin,  dotted  over 
with  tambourine  spots  of  crimson  silk.  The  dra  wers  came  nearly  to 
the  ankles,  on  which  were  thick  silver  bangles  ;  and  the  feet  were 
shod  with  greenish  yellow  slippers,  turned  up  at  the  toes,  and  roomy 
enough  to  make  it  probable  she  had  neither  corns  nor  bunions. 
Around  her  neck  were  many  gold  and  silver  chains  ;  and  she  had 
earrings  not  only  in  the  lobes  of  the  ears,  but  others  in  holes  lnadt 


336  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


all  round  the  rims.  Gold  and  silver  bracelets  of  pretty  Indian  work 
manship  decked  the  arms  ;  and  rings  of  the  same  material,  set  with 
precious  stones,  graced  every  finger  and  each  thumb.  A  lady  alone 
could  describe  the  rich  and  rare  attire ;  so  I  leave  it.  The  only  flaw  in 
the  get-up  was  short  hair.  It  is  so  kept  for  the  convenience  of  drying 
soon  after  the  bath.  To  our  northern  eyes,  it  had  a  tinge  too  much  of 
the  masculine.  While  talking  with  this  chief  lady  of  the  harem,  a 
second  entered,  and  performed  the  ceremony  of  breaking  bread  too. 
She  was  quite  as  gayly  dressed,  about  eighteen  years  of  age,  of  per- 
fect form,  and  taller  than  the  chief  lady.  Her  short  hair  was  oiled 
and  smoothed  down,  and  a  little  curl  cultivated  in  front  of  each  ear. 
This  was  pleasantly  feminine.  She  spoke  little,  but  her  realty  re- 
splendent eyes  did  all  save  talk.  They  were  of  a  brownish  shade, 
and  lustrous,  like  the  '  een  o'  Jeanie  Deans  filled  wi'  tears  ;  they 
glanced  like  lamour  beads/  —  'lamour,'  Scottice  for  amber.  The 
lectures  of  Mr.  Hancock  at  Charing  Cross  Hospital,  London,  long 
ago,  have  made  me  look  critically  on  eyes  ever  since.  A  third  lady 
entered,  and  broke  bread  also.  She  was  plain  as  compared  with 
her  sister  houris,  but  the  child  of  the  chief  man  of  those  parts.  Their 
complexion  was  fair  brunette.  The  prince  remarked  that  he  had 
only  three  wives,  though  his  rank  entitled  him  to  twelve. 

"  A  dark  slave  woman,  dressed  like,  but  less  gaudily  than  her 
superior,  now  entered  with  a  tray  and  tumblers  of  sweet  sherbet. 
Having  drunk  thereof,  flowers  were  presented,  and  then  betel-nut 
for  chewing.  The  head  lady  wrapped  up  enough  for  a  quid  in  a 
leaf,  and  handed  it  to  each  of  us,  and  to  please  her  we  chewed  a 
little.  It  is  slightly  bitter  and  astrigent,  and  like  a  Kola-nut  of  West 
Africa,  and  was  probably  introduced  as  a  tonic  and  preventative  of 
fever.  The  lady  superior  mixed  lime  with  her  own  and  sister's, — 
good  large  quids.  This  made  the  saliva  flow  freely ;  and  it  being  of  a 
brick-red  color,  stained  their  pretty  teeth  and  lips,  and  by  no  means 
improved  their  looks.  It  was  the  fashion,  and  to  them  nothing  un- 
comely, when  they  squirted  the  red  saliva  quite  artistically  all  over 
the  floor.  On  asking  the  reason  why  the  mother  took  no  lime  in  her 
quid,  and  kept  her  teeth  quite  clean,  she  replied  that  the  reason  was, 
she  had  been  on  a  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  and  was  a  Hajee.  The 
whole  scene  of  the  visit  was  like  a  gorgeous  picture.  The  ladies  had 
tried  to  please  us,  and  were  thoroughly  successful.  We  were 
delighted  with  a  sight  of  the  life  in  a  harem  ;  but  whether  from 
want  of  wit,  wisdom,  or  something  else,  I  should  still  vote  for  the 
one- wife  system,  having  tried  it  for  some  eighteen  years.  I  would 
not  exchange  a  monogamic  harem,  with  some  merry,  laughing, 
noisy  children,  for  any  polygamous  gathering  in  Africa  or  the  world. 


LETTER  TO  MR.  J.  G.  BENNETT. 


337 


It  scarcely  belongs  to  the  picture,  which  I  have  attempted  to  draw 
as  favorably  as  possible,  in  order  to  show  the  supreme  good  for  the 
sake  of  the  possible  attainment  of  which  the  half-caste  Arabs  perpe- 
trate all  the  atrocities  of  the  slave-trade  ;  but  a  short  time  after  this 
visit,  the  prince  fled  on  board  our  steamer  for  protection  from  cred- 
itors. He  was  misled  by  one  calling  himself  Col.  Aboo,  who 
went  about  the  world  saying  he  was  a  persecuted  Christian.  He 
had  no  more  Christianity  in  him  than  a  door-nail.  At  a  spot  some 
eighty  miles  south-west  of  the  south  end  of  Tanganyika,  stands  the 
stockaded  village  of  the  chief  Chitimbwa.  A  war  had  commenced 
between  a  party  of  Arabs  numbering  six  hundred  guns  and  the  chief 
of  the  district  situated  west  of  Chitimbwa,  while  I  was  at  the  south 
end  of  the  lake. 

"  The  Arabs,  hearing  that  an  Englishman  was  in  the  country,  natu- 
rally inquired  where  he  was  ;  and  the  natives,  fearing  that  mischief 
was  intended,  denied  positively  that  they  had  ever  seen  him.  They 
then  strongly  advised  me  to  take  refuge  on  an  inhabited  island ; 
but,  not  explaining  their  reasons,  I  am  sorry  to  think  that  I  sus- 
pected them  of  a  design  to  make  me  a  prisoner,  which  they  could 
easily  have  done  by  removing  the  canoes,  the  island  being  a  mile 
from  the  land.  They  afterwards  told  me  how  nicely  they  had 
cheated  the  Arabs,  and  saved  me  from  harm.  The  end  of  the  lake 
is  in  a  deep  cup-shaped  cavity,  with  sides  running  sheer  down  at 
some  parts  two  thousand  feet  into  the  water.  The  rocks,  of  red  clay 
schist,  crop  out  among  the  sylvan  vegetation ;  and  here  and  there  pretty 
cascades  leap  down  the  precipices,  forming  a  landscape  of  surpassing 
beauty.  Herds  of  elephants,  buffaloes,  and  antelopes  enliven  the 
scene,  and,  with  the  stockaded  villages  embowered  in  palms  along 
the  shores  of  the  peaceful  water,  realize  the  idea  of  Xenophon's  Par- 
adise. "When  about  to  leave  the  village  of  Mbette,  or  Painbette, 
down  there,  and  climb  up  the  steep  path  by  which  we  had  descended, 
the  wife  of  the  chief  came  forward,  and  said  to  her  husband  and  the 
crowd  looking  at  us  packing  up  our  things,  'Why  do  you  allow  this 
man  to  go  away?  He  will  certainly  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
Mazitu  [here  called  Batuba],  and  you  know  it,  and  are  silent.'  On 
inquiry,  it  appeared  certain  these  marauders  were  then  actually  plun- 
dering the  villages  up  above  the  precipices  at  the  foot  of  which  we 
sat.  We  waited  six  days ;  and  the  villagers  kept  watch  on  an  ant-hill 
outside  the  stockade,  all  the  time  looking  up  for  the  enemy.  Wher. 
we  did  at  last  ascend,  we  saw  the  well-known  lines  of  march  of  the 
jSlazitu,— straight  as  arrows  through  the  country,  without  any  regard 
to  the  native  paths  :  their  object  was  simply  plunder,  for  in  this  case 
there  was  no  bloodshed.  We  found  that  the  really  benevolent  lady 
29 


338  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


had  possessed  accurate  information.  On  going  thence  round  th(  end 
of  the  lake,  we  came  to  the  village  of  Karambo,  at  the  confluence  of 
a  large  river;  and  the  head  man  refused  us  a  passage  across,  'be- 
cause,' said  he,  '  the  Arabs  have  been  fighting  with  the  people  west 
of  us  ;  and  two  of  their  people  have  since  been  killed,  though  only 
in  search  of  ivory.  You  wish  to  go  round  by  the  west  of  the  lake, 
and  the  people  may  suppose  that  you  are  Arabs  ;  and  I  dare  not 
allow  you  to  run  the  risk  of  being  killed  by  mistake.'  On  seeming 
to  disbelieve,  Karamba  drew  his  finger  across  his  throat,  and  said, 
If  at  any  time  you  discover  that  I  have  spoken  falsely,  I  give  you 
"  eave  to  cut  my  throat.'  That  same  afternoon  two  Arab  slaves  came 
t;o  the  village  in  search  of  ivory,  and  confirmed  every  word  Karamba 
had  spoken. 

"  Having  previously  been  much  plagued  by  fever,  and  without  a 
particle  of  medicine,  it  may  have  been  the  irritability  produced  by 
that  disease  that  made  me  so  absurdly  pig-headed  in  doubting  the 
intentions  of  my  really  kind  benefactors  three  several  times.  The 
same  cause  may  be  in  operation  when  modern  travellers  are  unable 
to  say  a  civil  word  about  the  natives  ;  or  if  it  must  be  admitted, 
for  instance,  that  savages  will  seldom  deceive  you  if  placed  on  their 
honor,  why  must  we  turn  up  the  whites  of  our  eyes,  and  say  it 
is  an  instance  of  the  anomalous  character  of  the  Africans?  Being 
heaps  of  anomalies  ourselves,  it  would  be  just  as  easy  to  say  that  it 
is  interesting  to  find  other  people  like  us.  The  tone  which  we  mod- 
em travellers  use  is  that  of  infinite  superiority;  and  it  is  utterly 
nauseous  to  see  at  every  step  our  great  and  noble  elevation  crop- 
ping out  in  low  cunning.  Unable  to  go  north-west ,  we  turned  to  go 
due  south  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  or  so;  then  proceeded 
west  till  past  the  disturbed  district,  and  again  resumed  our 
northing.  But,  on  going  some  sixty  miles,  we  heard  that 
the  Arab  camp  was  twenty  miles  farther  south,  and  we 
went  to  hear  the  news.  The  reception  was  extremely  kind ; 
for  the  party  consisted  of  gentlemen  from  Zanzibar,  and  of  a  very 
different  stamp  from  the  murderers  we  afterwards  saw  at  Many  em  a. 
They  were  afraid  that  the  chief  with  whom  they  had  been  fighting 
might  flee  southwards,  and  that  in  going  that  way  I  might  fall  into 
his  hands.  Being  now  recovered,  I  could  readily  believe  them  ;  and 
they,  being  eager  ivory  traders,  as  readily  believed  me  when  1 
asserted  that  a  continuance  of  hostilities  meant  shutting  up  the  ivory 
market.  No  one  would  like  to  sell  if  he  stood  a  chance  of  being 
shot.  Peace,  therefore,  was  to  be  made  ;  but  the  process  of  'mixing 
blood,'  forming  a  matrimonial  alliance  with  the  chief's  daughter, 
etc.,  required  three  and  a  half  months  ;  and  during  long  intervals  of 


LETTER  TO  MR.  J.  G.  BENNETT. 


339 


that  time  1  remained  at  Chitimbwa' s.  The  stockade  was  situated  by 
a  rivulet,  and  had  a  dense  grove  of  high,  damp-loving  trees  round  a 
spring  on  one  side,  and  open  country,  pretty  well  cultivated,  on  the 
other.  It  was  cold,  and  over  four  thousand  seven  hundred  feet 
above  the  sea,  with  a  good  deal  of  forest  land  and  ranges  of  hills 
in  the  distance.  The  Arabs  were  on  the  west  side  of  the  stockade, 
and  one  of  the  Chitimbwas'  wives  at  once  vacated  her  house  on 
the  east  side  for  my  convenience. 

"Chitimbwa  was  an  elderly  man,  with  gray  hair  and  beard,  of 
quiet,  self-possessed  manners.  He  had  rive  wives  ;  and,  my  hut  being 
one  of  the  circle  which  their  houses  formed,  I  often  sat  reading  or 
writing  outside,  and  had  a  good  opportunity  of  seeing  the  domestic 
life  in  this  Central  African  harem,  without  appearing  to  be  prying; 
The  chief  wife,  the  mother  of  Chitimbwa's  son  and  heir,  was  some- 
what aged,  but  was  the  matron  in  authority  over  the  establishment. 
The  rest  were  young,  with  fine  shapes,  pleasant  countenances,  and 
nothing  of  the  West-Coast  African  about  them.  Three  of  them  had 
each  a  child,  making,  with  the  eldest  son,  a  family  of  four  children 
to  Chitimbwa.  The  matron  seemed  to  reverence  her  husband;  for, 
when  she  saw  him  approaching,  she  invariably  went  out  of  the  way, 
and  knelt  down  till  he  had  passed.  It  was  the  time  of  year  for 
planting  and  weeding  the  plantations  ;  and  the  regular  routine  work 
of  all  the  families  in  the  town  was  nearly  as  follows  :  Between  three 
and  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when  the  howling  of  the  hyenas  and 
growling  of  the  lions  or  leopards  told  that  they  had  spent  the  night 
fasting,  the  first  human  sounds  heard  were  those  of  the  good  wives 
knocking  off  the  red  coals  from  the  ends  of  the  sticks  in  the  fire,  and 
raising  up  a  blaze  to  which  young  and  old  crowded  for  warmth  from 
the  cold,  which  at  this  time  is  the  most  intense  of  the  twenty-four 
hours.  Some  Psange  smoker  lights .  his  pipe,  and  makes  the  place 
ring  with  his  nasty,  scicaming,  stridulous  coughing.  Then  the  cocks 
begin  to  crow  (about  four,  a.m.),  and  the  women  call  to  each  other  to 
make  ready  to  march. 

''They  go  off  to  their  gardens  in  companies,  and  keep  up  a  brisk, 
loud  conversation,  with  a  view  to  frighten  away  any  lion  or  buffalo 
that  may  not  yet  have  retired ;  and  for  this  the  human  voice  is 
believed  to  be  efficacious.  The  gardens,  or  plantations,  are  usually  a 
couple  of  miles  from  the  village.  This  is  often  for  the  purpose  of 
securing  safety  for  the  crops  from  their  own  goats  or  cattle,  but  more 
frequently  for  the  sake  of  the  black,  loamy  soil  near  the  banks  of 
rivulets.  This  they  prefer  for  maize  and  dura  (holcus  sorghum) ; 
while  for  a  small  species  of  millet,  called  mileza,  they  select  a 
patch  in  the  forest,  which  they  manure  by  burning  the  branches  of 


340  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


trees.  The  distance  which  the  good  wives  willingly  go  to  get  the 
soil  best  adapted  for  different  plants,  makes  their  arrival  just  about 
dawn.  Fire  has  been  brought  from  home;  and  a  little  pot  is  set  on 
with  beans  or  pulse,  — something  that  requires  long  simmering  ;  and 
the  whole  family  begins  to  work  at  what  seems  to  give  them  real 
pleasure.  The  husband,  who  had  marched  in  front  of  each  little 
squad  with  a  spear  and  little  axe  over  his  shoulder,  at  once  begins 
to  cut  off  all  the  sprouts  on  the  stumps  left  in  clearing  the  ground. 
A]',  the  bushes  fall  to  his  share;  and  all  the  branches  of  tall  trees  too 
hard  to  bo  cut  down  are  filed  round  the  root,  to  be  fired  when  dry. 
He  must  also  cut  branches  to  make  a  low  fence  round  the  planta- 
tion ;  for  few  wild  beasts  like  to  cross  over  any  thing  having  tho 
appearance  of  human  workmanship.  The  wart-hog,  having  a  great 
weakness  for  ground-nuts,  otherwise  called  pig-nuts  (Arachis 
hypor/oia),  must  be  circumvented  by  a  series  of  pitfalls,  or  a  deep 
ditch  and  earrnen  dike  all  round  the  nut-plot.  If  any  other  ani- 
mal has  made  free  with  the  food  of  the  family,  papa  carefully  exam- 
ines the  trail  of  the  intruder,  makes  a  deep  pitfall  in  it,  covers  it 
carefully  over  ;  and  every  day  it  is  a  most  interesting  matter  to  see 
whether  the  thief  has  been  taken  for  the  pot.  The  mother  works 
away  vigorously  with  her  hoe,  often  adding  new  patches  of  virgin 
land  to  that  already  under  cultivation.  The  children  help  by  remov- 
ing the  weeds  and  grass  which  she  has  uprooted  into  heaps  to  be 
dried  and  burned.  They  seem  to  know  and  watch  every  plant  in 
the  field.  It  is  all  their  own  ;  no  one  is  stinted  as  to  the  land  he 
may  cultivate  :  the  more  they  plant,  the  more  they  have  to  eat  and 
to  spare.  In  some  parts  of  Africa  the  labor  falls  almost  exclusively 
on  the  women  ;  and  the  males  are  represented  as  atrociously  crue* 
to  them.  It  was  not  so  here  ;  nor  is  it  so  in  Central  Africa  gener- 
ally. Indeed,  the  women  have  often  decidedly  the  upper  hand. 
The  clearances  by  law  and  custom  were  the  work  of  the  men  ;  the 
weeding  was  the  work  of  the  whole  family  ;  and  so  was  the  reap- 
ing. The  little  girls  were  nursing  a  baby  under  the  shade  of  a  watch- 
lion  *e  perched  on  the  tops  of  a  number  of  stakes  about  twelve 
feet  or  fourteen  feet  high  ;  and  to  this  the  family  adjourn  when 
the  dura  is  in  ear,  to  scare  away  birds  by  day,  and  antelopes  by 
night. 

"About  eleven,  a.m.,  the  sun  becomes  too  hot  for  comfortable 
work;  and  all  come  under  the  shade  of  the  lofty  watch-tower,  or  a 
tree  left  fcr  the  purpose.  Mamma  serves  out  the  pottage,  now 
thorc  uglily  cooked,  by  placing  a  portion  in  each  pair  of  hands.  It  is 
bad  manners  here  to  receive  any  gift  with  but  one  hand.  Thoy  eat 
to  with  keen  appetites,  and  with  so  much  relish  that  forever  after- 


LETTER  TO  MR.  J.  G.  BENNETT. 


341 


wards  they  th  ink  that  to  eat  with  the  hand  is  far  nicer  than  with  a 
spoon.  Mamma  takes  and  nurses  baby  while  she  eats  her  own 
share.  Baby  seems  a  general  favorite,  and  is  not  exhibited  till  he 
is  quite  a  little  ball  of  fat.  Every  one  then  takes  off  beads  to  orna- 
ment him.  He  is  not  born  with  a  silver  spoon  in  his  mouth  ;  and 
one  may  see  poor  mothers  who  have  no  milk  mix  a  little  flour  and 
water  in  the  palm  of  the  hand,  and  the  sisters  look  on  with  intense 
interest,  to  see  the  little  stranger  making  a  milk-bottle  of  the  aide  cf 
the  mother's  hand,  the  crease  therein  just  allowing  enough  to  pass 
down.  They  are  wide-awake  little  creatures,  and  I  thought  that  my 
own  little  ones  imbibed  a  good  deal  of  this  quality.  I  never  saw 
such  unwearied  energy  as  they  display  the  livelong  day;  and  that, 
too,  in  the  hot  season.  The  meal  over,  the  wife,  and  perhaps 
daughter,  goes  a  little  way  into  the  forest,  and  collects  a  bundle  of 
dry  wood,  and  with  the  baby  slung  on  her  back  in  a  way  that  sug- 
gests the  flattening  of  the  noses  of  many  Africans.  Placing  the 
wood  on  her  head,  and  the  boy  carrying  her  hoe,  the  party  wends 
home.  Each  wife  has  her  own  granary,  in  which  the  produce  of  the 
garden  is  stowed.  It  is  of  the  beehive  shape  of  the  huts  ;  only  the 
walls  are  about  twelve  feet  high,  and  it  is  built  on  a  stage  about  eigh- 
teen -inches  from  the  ground.  It  is  about  five  feet  in  diameter,  and 
roofed  Avith  wood  and  grass.  The  door  is  near  the  roof ;  and  a 
ladder,  made  by  notches  being  cut  in  a  tree,  is  used  to  enable  the 
owner  to  climb  into  it.  The  first  thing  the  good  wife  does,  on  coming 
home,  is  to  get  the  ladder,  climb  up,  and  bring  down  millet  or  dura 
grain  sufficient  for  her  family.  She  spreads  it  in  the  sun  ;  and  while 
this  is  drying  or  made  crisp,  occurs  the  only  idle  time  I  have  seen  in 
the  day's  employment.  Some  rested,  others  dressed  their  husband's 
or  neighbor's  hair,  others  strung  beads.  I  should  have  liked  to  see 
them  take  life  more  easily ;  for  it  is  as  pleasant  to  see  the  negro 
reclining  under  his  palm,  as  it  is  to  look  at  the  white  man  lolling  on 
his  ottoman.  But  the  great  matter  is,  they  enjoy  their  labor;  and 
the  children  enjoy  life  as  human  beings  ought,  and  have  not  the  sap 
of  lite  squeezed  out  of  them  by  their  own  parents,  as  is  the  case 
with  nailers,  glass-blowers,  stockingers,  fustian-cutters,  brick-makers, 
&c,  in  England.  At  other  periods  of  the  year,  when  harvest  is 
home,  they  enjoy  more  leisure  and  jollification  with  their  native 
beer,  called  'pombe.'  But  in  no  case  of  free  people,  living  in  their 
own  free  land,  under  their  own  free  laws,  are  they  like  what  slaves 
become. 

"When  the  grain  is  dry,  it  is  pounded  in  a  large  wooden  mortar. 
To  separate  the  scales  from  the  seed,  a  dexterous  toss  of  the  hand 
drives  all  the  chaff  to  one  corner  of  the  vessel.   This  is  lifted  out 
29* 


342  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


and  then  the  dust  is  tossed  out  by  another  peculiar  up-and-down 
half -horizontal  motion  of  the  vessel,  difficult  to  describe  or  do,  which 
leaves  the  grain  quite  clean.  It  is  then  ground  into  fine  meal  by  a 
horizontal  motion  of  the  upper  millstone,  to  which  the  whole  weight 
is  applied  ;  and  at  each  stroke  the  flour  is  shoved  off  the  farther  end 
of  the  nether  millstone,  and  the  flour  is  finished.  They  have  meat 
but  seldom,  and  make  relishes  from  the  porridge  into  which  the 
flour  is  cooked,  of  the  leaves  of  certain  wild  and  cultivated  plants; 
or  they  roast  some  ground-nuts,  grind  them  fine,  and  make  a  curry. 
They  seem  to  know  that  oily  matter,  such  as  the  nuts  contain,  is 
requisite  to  modify  their  otherwise  farinaceous  food;  and  some  even 
grind  a  handful  of  castor-oil  nuts  with  the  grain  for  the  same  pur- 
pose. The  husband  having  employed  himself  in  the  afternoon  in 
making  mats  for  sleeping  on,  in  preparing  skins  for  clotliing, 
or  in  making  new  handles  for  hoes,  or  cutting  out  wooden  bowls, 
joins  the  family  in  the  evening,  and  all  partake  abundantly 
of  the  chief  meal  of  the  day  before  going  off  to  sleep.  They  have 
considerable  skill  in  agriculture,  and  great  shrewdness  in  selecting 
the  sorts  proper  for  different  kinds  of  produce.  When  Bishop  Mack- 
enzie witnessed  their  operations  in  the  field,  he  said  to  me,  'When 
I  was  in  England,  and  spoke  in  public  meetings  about  our  mission,  1 
mentioned,  that,  among  other  things,  I  meant  to  teach  them  agricul- 
ture ;  but  now  I  see  that  the  Africans  know  a  great  deal  more  about 
it  than  I  do.'  One  of  his  associates,  earnestly  desiring  to  benefit  the 
people  to  whom  he  was  going,  took  lessons  in  basket-making  before 
he  left  England ;  but  the  specimens  of  native  workmanship  he  met 
with  everywhere  led  him  to  conclude  that  he  had  better  say  nothing 
about  his  acquisition;  in  fact,  he  could  'not  hold  a  candle  to  them.' 
The  foregoing  is  as  fair  an  example  of  the  e  very-day  life  of  the 
majority  of  the  people  in  Central  Africa  as  I  can  give.  It  as  truly 
represents  surface-life  in  African  villages  as  the  other  case  does  the 
surface  condition  in  an  Arab  harem.  In  other  parts,  the  people 
appear  to  travellers  in  much  worse  light.  The  tribes  lying  more 
towards  the  east  coast,  who  have  been  much  visited  by  Arab  slaves, 
are  said  to  be  in  a  state  of  chronic  warfare,  the  men  always  ready  to 
rob  and  plunder,  and  the  women  scarcely  ever  cultivating  enough 
of  food  for  the  year.  That  is  the  condition  to  which  all  Arab  slavery 
tends.  Capt.  Speke  revealed  a  state  of  savageism  and  brutality  in 
Uganda  of  which  I  have  no  experience.  The  murdering  by  whole- 
sale of  the  chief  Mteza,  or  Mtesa,  would  not  be  tolerated  among  the 
tribes  I  have  visited.  The  slaughter  of  head  men's  daughters  would 
elsewhere  than  in  Uganda  insure  speedy  assassination.  1  have  no 
reason  to  suppose  that  Speke  was  mistaken  in  liis  statements  as  to 


LETTER  TO  MR.  J.  G.  BENNETT. 


the  numbers  of  ^onien  led  away  to  execution,  —  two  hundred  Ba, 
ganda.  People  now  here  assert  that  many  were  led  away  to  become 
field-laborers;  and  one  seen  by  Grant  with  her  hoe  on  her  head 
seems  to  countenance  the  idea.  But  their  statements  are  of  small 
account  as  compared  with  those  of  Speke  and  Grant ;  for  they  now 
all  know  that  cold-blooded  murder,  like  that  of  Mtesa,  is  detested 
by  all  the  civilized  world,  and  they  naturally  wish  to  smooth  the 
matter  over. 

"  The  remedy  open  to  all  other  tribes  in  Central  Africa  is  desertion. 
The  tyrant  soon  finds  himself  powerless.  His  people  have  quietly 
removed  to  other  chiefs,  and  never  return.  The  tribes  subjected  by 
the  Makololo  had  hard  times  of  it,  but  nothing  like  the  butchery  of 
Mteza.  A  large  body  went  off  to  the  north.  Another  sent  to  Tete 
refused  to  return  ;  and  seventeen,  sent  with  me  to  the  Shire  for  med- 
icine for  the  chief,  did  the  same  thing.  When  the  chief  died,  the 
tribes  broke  up  and  scattered.  Mteza  seems  to  be  an  un whipped  fool. 
"We  all  know  rich  men  who  would  have  been  much  better  fellows  if 
they  had  ever  got  bloody  noses  and  sound  thrashings  at  school. 
The  two  hundred  of  his  people  here  have  been  detained  many  months, 
and  have  become  thoroughly  used  to  the  country,  but  not  one  of  them 
wishes  to  remain.  The  apparent  willingness  to  be  trampled  in  the 
dust  by  Mteza  is  surprising.  The  whole  of  my  experience  in  Central 
Africa  says  that  the  negroes  not  yet  spoiled  by  contact  with  the  slave- 
trade  are  distinguished  for  friendliness  and  good  sound  sense.  Some 
can  be  guilty  of  great  wickedness,  and  seem  to  think  little  about  it. 
Others  perform  actions  as  unmistakably  good,  with  no  great  self- 
complacency  ;  and  if  one  catalogued  all  the  good  deeds  or  all  the 
•  bad  ones  he  came  across,  he  might  think  the  men  extremely  good  01 
extremely  bad,  instead  of  calling  them,  like  ourselves,  curious  com- 
pounds of  good  and  evil.  In  one  point  they  are  remarkable,  — they 
are  honest,  even  among  the  cannibal  Manyema.  A  slave-trader  at 
Bambarre  and  I  had  to  send  our  goats  and  fowls  up  to  the  Manyema 
villages,  to  prevent  their  being  all  stolen  by  my  friend's  own  slaves. 
Another  wide-spread  trait  of  character  is  a  trusting  disposition. 
The  Central  African  tribes  are  the  antipodes  of  some  of  the  North 
American  Indians,  and  very  unlike  many  of  their  own  countrymen, 
who  have  come  into  contact  with  Mahommedans  and  Portuguese  and 
Dutch  Christians.  They  at  once  perceive  the  superiority  of  the 
strangers  in  power  of  mischief,  and  readily  listen  to  and  ponder  over 
friendly  advice. 

"Aiter  the  cruel  massacre  of  Nyangwe,  which  I  unfortunately 
witnessed,  the  fourteen  chiefs  whose  villages  had  been  destroyed, 
and  many  of  their  people  killed,  fled  to  my  house,  and  begged  me  to 


544 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


make  peace  for  them.  The  Arabs  then  came  over  to  their  side  of  the 
great  river  Lualaba,  dividing  their  country  anew,  and  pointing  out 
where  each  should  build  a  new  village  and  cultivate  other  planta- 
tions. The  peace  was  easily  made  ;  for  the  Arabs  had  no  excuse  for 
their  senseless  murders,  and  each  blamed  the  other  for  the  guilt. 
Both  parties  pressed,  me  to  remain  at  the  peacemaking  ceremonies  ; 
and,  had  I  not  kown  the  African  trusting  disposition,  I  might  have 
set  down  the  native  appeal  to  great  personal  influence.  All  I  had 
in  my  favor  was  common  decency  and  fairness  of  behavior,  and  per- 
haps a  little  credit  for  goodness  awarded  by  the  Zanzibar  slav63. 
The  Manyenia  could  easily  see  the  Arab  religion  was  disjoined  from 
morality.  Their  immorality,  in  fact,  has  always  proved  an  effectual 
barrier  to  the  spread  of  Islamism  in  Eastern  Africa.  It  is  a  sad  pn  v 
that  our  good  '  Bishop  of  Central  Africa,'  albeit  ordained  in  West- 
minster Abbey,  preferred  the  advice  of  a  ooJoneJ  in  the  army  to 
remain  at  Zanzibar,  rather  than  proceed  into  his  diocese,  and  take 
advantage  of  the  friendliness  of  the  still  unspoiled  tribes  to  spread  0141 
faith.  The  Catholic  missionaries  lately  sent  from  England  to  Mary 
land  to  convert  the  negroes  might  have  obtained  the  advice  of  haH 
a  dozen  army  colonels  to  remain  at  New  York,  or  even  at  London  . 
but  the  answer,  if  they  have  any  Irish  blood  in  them,  might  have 
been,  1  Take  your  advice  and  yourselves  off  to  the  battle  of  Dorking 
we  will  fight  our  own  fight.'  The  venerable  Archbishop  ot  Balri 
more  told  these  brethren  that  they  would  get  *  chiis  aud  fever  ; :  hut 
he  did  not  add,  '  When  you  do  get  the  shivers,  then  take  to  your  heels, 
my  hearties.'  When  any  of  the  missionaries  at  Zanzibar  get  'chills 
and  fever,'  they  have  a  nice  pleasure  trip  in  a  man-of-war  to  the 
Seychelles  Islands.  The  good  men  deserve  it  of  course,  and  no  one 
grudges  to  save  their  precious  lives.  But  human  nature  is  frail 
Zanzibar  is  much  more  unhealthy  than  the  mainland  ,  aud  the  Gov 
ernment,  by  placing  men-of-war  at  the  disposal  of  these  brethren 
though  meaning  to  help  them  in  their  work,  virtually  aids  them  to 
keep  out  of  it. 

"  Some  eight  years  have  rolled  on,  and  good  Christian  people  have 
contributed  the  money  annually  for  Central  Africa,  and  ;he  •Central 
African  Diocese'  is  occupied  only  by  the  lord  of  all  evil,  it  is  with  a 
sore  heart  I  say  it ;  but  recent  events  have  shown  to  those  who  have 
so  long  been  playing  at  being  missionaries,  and  peeping  across  from 
the  sickly  island  to  their  diocese  on  the  mainland  with  telescopes, 
that  their  time  might  have  been  turned  to  far  better  account.  About 
1868  there  were  twelve  congregations  of  native  Christians  at  the  cap- 
ital of  Madagascar.  These  were  the  results  of  the  labors  of  inde- 
pendent missionaries.    For  some  fifty  years  the  Malagasse  Chris- 


LETTER  TO  MR.  J.  G.  BENNETT. 


345 


tians  showed  their  faith  to  be  genuine  by  enduring  the  most  bitter 
persecutions ;  and  scores,  if  not  hundreds,  submitted  to  cruel  public 
executions  rather  than  deny  the  blessed  Saviour.  The  first  missiona- 
ries had  to  leave  the  island ;  but  the  converts,  having  the  Bible  in  their 
own  tongue,  continued  to  meet  and  worship  and  increase  in  secret, 
though  certain  death  was  the  penalty  on  discovery.  A  change  in 
the  government  allowed  the  return  of  the  missionaries ;  and  a  per  - 
sonal entreaty  of  Queen  Victoria  to  the  successor  of  the  old  perse- 
cuting Queen  of  Madagascar  obtained  freedom  of  worship  for  the 
Christians,  and  peace  and  joy  prevailed.  The  Society  for  the  Propa- 
gation of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts  thereafter  sent  some  mission- 
aries to  Tamatave,  which  may  be  called  the  chief  seaport  for  the 
capital  where  many  heathen  lived;  and  the  energetic  Cape  bishop 
slyly  said  that  they  were  not  to  interfere  with  churches  already 
formed;  but  the  good  pious  man  at  once  sent  the  touching  cry  back 
to  London,  'Let  us  go  up  to  the  capital.'  Sheer  want  of  charity 
makes  me  conjecture,  that  if  we  had  twelve  native  churches  a&  TTny- 
anyembe,  or  Ujiji,  or  the  Tanganyika,  the  1  Bishop  of  Central  Africa* 
would  eight  years  ago  have  been  in  here  like  a  shot,  and  no  colonel's 
advice,  however  foolish,  would  have  prevented  him.  It  is  not  to  be 
supposed  that  the  managers  of  the  Society  named  felt  that  they  were 
guilty  of  unchristian  meanness  in  introducing  themselves  into  other 
men's  labors,  while  tens  of  millions  of  wholly  untaught  heathen 
were  equally  within  their  reach.  These  things  are  due  from  want  of 
kind  consideration.  A  similar  instance  of  bad  manners  occurred 
at  Honolulu  a  few  years  ago.  Mr.  Ellis,  the  venerable  apostle 
of  the  Malagasse,  was  working  at  Honolulu  towards  the  begin- 
ning of  this  century,  when  some  American  Presbyterian  mission- 
aries appeared,  searching  for  a  sphere  of  labor.  Mr.  Ellis  at  once 
gave  up  his  dwelling,  church,  school,  and  printing-press  to  them, 
and  went  to  work  elsewhere.  TheAmericans  hare  labored  most  de- 
votedly and  successfully  in  Owyhee,  as  Capt.  Cook  called  it,  and  by 
them  education  and  Christianity  were  diffused  over  the  whole  Sand- 
wich group  :  but  it  lately  appeared  that  the  converted  islanders 
wanted  an  Episcopalian  bishop  ;  and  a  bishop  they  got,  vrbo,  in  sheer 
lack  of  good  breeding,  went  about  Honolulu  with  a  great  paper  cap 
on  his  head,  ignoring  his  American  brethren,  whose  success  showed 
them  to  be  of  the  true  apostolic  stamp,  and  declaring  that  he,  the 
novice,  was  the  only  bishop,  the  only  true  bishop,  and  no  mistake. 

"  Of  all  mortal  men,  missionaries  and  missionary  bishops  ought 
manifestly  to  be  true  gentlemen  :  and  it  does  feel  uncomfortably 
6trange  to  see  our  dearly-beloved  brethren  entering  into  their  neigh- 
bors' folds,  built  up  by  the  toil  of  half  a  century,  and  being  guilty  oi 


346  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


conduct  through  mere  non-consideration  that  has  an  affinity  to  slieep- 
stealing.  It  may  seem  harsh  to  say  so ;  but  sitting  up  here  in  Unyan- 
yembe  in  wearisome  waiting  for  Mr.  Stanley  to  send  men  from  the 
coast,  two  full  months'  march,  or  rive  hundred  miles  distant,  and  all 
Central  Africa  behind  me,  the  thought  will  rise  up  that  the  Church  of 
England  and  Universities  have,  in  intention  at  least,  provided  the 
gospel  for  the  perishing  population  ;  and  why  does  it  not  come? 
Then,  again,  the  scene  rises  up  of  undoubtedly  good  men  descending 
to  draw  away  stray  sheep  from  those  who  have  borne  the  burden  and 
heat  of  the  day,  at  Tananarivo,  the  capital  of  Madagascar,  rather  than 
preach  to  the  Bamabake  heathen,  or  to  the  thousands  of  Malagasse  in 
BembJi:ook  Bay,  who,  though  Sakalavas,  are  quite  as  friendly  and 
politically  one  with  Thovas  at  the  seat  of  government.  And  then  the 
unseemly  spectacle  at  Honolulu.  It  is  a  proceeding  of  the  same  na- 
ture as  that  in,> Madagascar  ;  but  each  process  has  something  in  its 
favor.  'The  native  Christians  wanted  a  bishop.'  Well,  ail  who 
know  natives  understand  exactly  what  that  means,  if  we  want  to 
cavil.  '  An  intelligent  Zulu '  soon  comes  to  the  front.  I  overhead 
an  intelligent,  educated  negro  aver  that  the  Bible  was  wrong,  because 
an  elephant  was  stronger  than  a  lion  ;  and  the  Bible  says,  '  What  is 
sweeter  than  honey?  what  is  stronger  that  a  lion?'  But  I  did  not 
wish  to  attack  the  precious  old  documents,  the  'Scriptures  of  truth;' 
and  his  intelligence,  such  as  it  was,  shall  remain  unsung.  The  ex- 
cellent bishops  of  the  Church  of  England,  who  all  take  an  interest  in 
the  '  Central  African  Mission,'  will,  in  their  kind  and  gracious  way, 
roak*  every  allowance  for  the  degeneracy  of  the  noble  effort  of  the 
Universities  into  a  mere  chaplaincy  of  the  Zanzibar  consulate.  One 
of  them  even  defended  a  lapsus  which  no  one  else  dared  to  face  ; 
but  whatever  in  their  kindheartedness  they  may  say,  every  man  of 
them  would,  rejoice  to  hear  that  the  Central  African  had  gone  into 
Central  Africa.  If  I  must  address  those  who  hold  back,  I  should 
say,  Come  on,  brethren  :  you  have  no  idea  how  brave  you  are  till 
you  try.  The  real  brethren  who  are  waiting  for  you  have  many 
faults,  but  also  much  that  you  can  esteem  and  love.  The  Arabs 
never  saw  mothers  selling  their  offspring  ;  nor  have  I :  though  one 
author  made  a  broad  statement  to  that  effect,  as  a  nice  setting  to  a 
nice  little  story  about  ' A  Mother  Bear.'  He  may  Lave  seen  an  infant 
sold  who  had  the  misfortune  to  cut  its  upper  teeth  before  the  lower, 
because  it  was  called  unlucky,  and  likely  to  bring  death  into  the 
family.  We  have  had  foundlings  among  us;  but  that  does  not  mean 
that  English  mothers  are  no  better  than  she-bears.  If  you  go  into 
other  men's  labors,  you  need  not  tell  at  home  who  reared  the  con- 
certs you  have  secured ;  but  you  will  feel  awfully  uncomfortable, 


LETTER  TO  MR.  J.  G.  BENNETT. 


even  in  heaven,  till  you  have  made  abject  apologies  to  yoar  brethren 
who,  like  y  ourselves,  are  heavenward  bound. 

"  Having  now  been  some  six  years  out  of  the  world,  and  most  of  my 
friends  having  apparently  determined  by  their  silence  to  impress  me 
with  the  truth  of  the  adage,  'Out  of  sight,  out  of  mind,'  the  dark 
scenes  of  the  slave-trade  had  a  most  distressing  and  depressing  influ- 
ence. The  power  of  the  Prince  of  Darkness  seemed  enormous.  It 
was  only  with  a  heavy  heart  I  said,  *  Thy  kingdom  come  !  *  In  one 
point  of  view,  the  evils  that  brood  over  this  beautiful  country  are 
insuperable.  When  I  dropped  among  the  Makololo  and  others  in  the 
Central  region,  I  saw  a  fair  prospect  of  the  regeneration  of  Atrica. 
More  could  have  been  done  in  the  Makalolo  country  than  was  done 
by  St.  Patrick  in  Ireland  ;  but  I  did  not  know  that  I  was  surrounded 
by  the  Portuguese  slave-trade,  a  blight  like  a  curse  from  heaven, 
that  proved  a  barrier  to  all  improvement.  Now  I  am  not  so  hopeful. 
I  don't  know  how  the  wrong  will  become  right  ;  but  the  great  and 
loving  Father  of  all  knows,  and  he  will  do  it  according  to  his 
infinite  wisdom.' ' 

There  is  little  to  add  to  what  is  already  told  of  the  last 
hours  of  the  great  traveller.  For  the  last  few  days  of  his 
life,  he  wished  to  be  alone,  arid  conversed  with  none  but 
his  two  head  men  ;  but  all  his  followers  came  to  the  door 
of  his  hut  every  morning  to  greet  him.  More  than  once 
they  had  to  fight  before  they  could  pass  on  their  way  with 
the  body.  The  donkey  on  which  he  rode  .at  the  last  was 
killed  by  a  lion  on  the  way  to  the  coast. 

The  Peninsular  and  Oriental  steamship  "  Malwa,"  hav- 
ing the  bod}',  arrived  in  the  Solent  between  six  and  seven 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  Wednesday  the  15th  April. 
Dr.  Moffat,  the  famous  African  missionary,  and  father- 
in-law  of  Dr.  Livingstone ;  W.  Oswell  Livingstone,  the 
second  surviving  son  of  the  great  traveller ;  Henry  M. 
Stanley  ;  the  Rev.  Horace  Waller,  an  old  friend  and  fel- 
low-traveller of  Dr.  Livingstone ;  Mr.  A.  Laing,  of  Zan- 
zibar ;  Mr.  W.  F.  Webb,  of  Newstead  Abbey  l  and  Mr. 
James  Young,  —  had  been  in  Southampton  since  the  pre- 


348  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

ceding  Saturday,  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  the  body. 
Messrs.  Webb  and  Young  are  the  gentlemen  whose  names 
have  been  so  happily  associated  with  the  great  river,  the 
Lualaba,  by  Dr.  Livingstone,  in  gratitude  for  the  many 
friendly  services  they  had  rendered  to  him,  and  to  the 
great  work  to  which  he  dedicated  his  life. 

Several  of  the  above  gentlemen,  accompanied  by  Ad- 
miral Hall,  entered  a  tug-boat  belonging  to  the  Peninsular 
and  Oriental  Company,  and  steamed  down  the  Solent  to 
meet  "  The  Malwa."  Getting  on  board,  they  were  re- 
ceived by  the  officers  of  the  ship,  and  the  eldest  son  of 
the  late  traveller,  Mr.  Thomas  Livingstone,  who  had 
joined  "The  Malwa"  at  Alexandria.  Jacob  Wainright, 
a  negro  follower  of  Dr.  Livingstone,  a  squat  little  fellow, 
barely  over  five  feet  in  height,  was  warmly  greeted  by  all. 
He  remembered  Mr.  Stanley,  although  the  change  in  his 
dress  and  appearance  puzzled  him  for  a  moment.  He  was 
rescued  from  slavery  b}^  Dr.  Livingstone,  in  the  valley  of 
the  Shire,  on  the  occasion  of  his  second  visit  to  the  coun- 
tries of  the  Zambesi  and  the  Shire,  when  a  mere  boy,  and 
was  left,  along  with  several  other  African  natives,  at  the 
Nassick  school  near  Bombay,  where  he  was  carefully  edu- 
cated. When  the  Livingstone  search  expedition  under 
Lieut.  Dawson  was  projected,  towards  the  end  of  1871, 
Jacob  Wainwright  offered  to  accompany  it,  and  was  at 
Zanzibar  when  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Stanley,  who  had  suc- 
cessfully relieved  the  great  traveller,  rendered  the  expedi- 
tion unnecessary.  Mr.  Stanley  engaged  him,  and  sent 
him  on  to  Dr.  Livingstone  along  with  the  men  and  stores 
for  which  the  latter  was  waiting  at  LTnyanyembe.  The 
friends  of  the  deceased  were  conducted  to  the  room  where 
the  body  had  lain  during  the  vo}~age.  "  This  apartment," 
Bays  the  correspondent  of  a  London  paper,  "had  been 


WESTMINSTER  ABBEY. 


draped  roun'l  with  Union  Jacks,  and  the  coffin  covered 
with  the  company's  flag.  With  bared  heads  the  deputation 
stood  round  as  the  chief  officer  unlocked  the  door ;  and 
then,  as  each  peeped  into  what  really  looked  like  a  neat 
little  mortuary  chapel,  it  was  impossible  not  to  feel  that 
the  gallant  sailor  could  not  have  done  better  with  the 
means  at  his  disposal.  .  .  .  The  short,  bulky,  externa, 
coffin  was  found  to  be  roughly  made  of  some  native  wood, 
stained  black,  with  a  few  uncouth  attempts  at  ornamenta- 
tion, though,  no  doubt,  the  best  that  could  be  done  at 
Zanzibar.  There  was  an  inner  coffin,  it  was  said,  of  sol- 
dered zinc." 

In  the  streets  a  procession,  consisting  of  the  ma}~or 
and  corporation,  the  friends  of  the  deceased,  the  deputa- 
tion of  the  Geographical  Society,  and  the  various  public 
bodies  in  the  town,  accompanied  the  hearse  containing 
the  remains  to  the  railway  station,  where  a  special  train 
was  waiting  to  convey  it  to  London.  While  the  proces- 
sion was  in  progress,  the  church-bells  rang  a  muffled  peal, 
and  the  Hants  Artillery  Volunteers  fired  minute  guns  from 
the  platform  batter}'.  At  Waterloo  Station  a  hearse  and 
three  mourning  carriages  were  waiting  to  convey  the  body 
and  the  friends  of  the  deceased  to  the  Geographical  Soci- 
ety's rooms  in  S  a  vile  Row. 

In  the  course  of  the  evening  the  body  was  examined  by 
Sir  William  Fergusson,  who  identified  it  as  that  of  Dr. 
Livingstone  from  the  ununited  fracture  on  the  left  arm, 
caused  by  the  bite  of  a  lion  thirty  years  ago,  an  account 
of  which  will  be  found  at  page  21. 

On  Saturday  the  18th  of  April,  the  remains  of  Dr.  Liv- 
ingstone found  a  resting-place  in  Westminster  Abbe}',  the 
procession  an  I  entombment  of  the  body  being  witnessed 
by  thousands  of  spectators.    The  ceremony  within  the 

30 


850  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


Abbey  was  witnessed  by  a  vast  number  of  people,  many 
of  whom  are  the  leaders  in  science,  literature,  art,  poli- 
tics, &c.  Eepresentatives  from  Edinburgh,  Glasgow, 
Hamilton,  and  other  parts  of  Scotland,  were  present. 
The  grave  is  situated  in  the  centre  of  the  west  part  of  the 
nave.  Through  the  cloisters  the  coffin  was  reverently 
borne  at  a  very  slow  pace,  Mr.  Thomas  Livingstone  and 
Mr.  Oswell  Livingstone  bearing  the  foremost  ends  of  the 
pall.  Dr.  Moffat,  Mr.  Webb,  Mr.  Stanley,  Mr.  Waller, 
and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Price,  and  Jacob  Wainwright  brought 
up  the  rear.  Following  behind  all  was  Kalulu,  Mr  Stan- 
d's boy.  The  funeral  service  was  read  by  Dean  Stanley. 
The  pealing  of  the  organ,  and  the  beautiful  rendering  of 
the  musical  portion  of  the  service  by  the  choir,  added 
greatly  to  the  beauty  and  solemnity  of  the  service.  On 
the  pall  were  placed  wreaths  and  immortelles ,  one  of  which 
was  sent  by  Her  Majesty. 

When  the  body  was  lowered  into  the  grave,  those  pres- 
ent were  permitted  to  see  the  coffin  as  it  lay  in  its  narrow 
bed.    It  bears  the  plain  inscription  :  — 

"DAVID  LIVINGSTONE, 

BORN  AT  BLANTRYE,  LANARKSHIRE,  SCOTLAND, 
19TH  MARCH,  1813; 
DIED  AT  ILALA,  CENTRAL  AFRICA, 
4TH  MAY  1873." 

On  the  Sunday  following  the  funeral,  the  lesson  of  Dr. 
Livingstone's  life  was  enforced  from  thousands  of  pulpits 
throughout  the  country.  In  Westminster  Abbey  special 
services  were  held.  In  the  afternoon  Dean  Stanley 
preached  to  a  crowded  congregation,  and  alluded  at  some 
length,  in  an  eloquent  and  impressive  manner,  to  the  ser- 
vices rendered  to  humanity  by  the  great  deceased. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


BEACHES    ZANZI  JAR.  —  RAVAGES    OF    SLAVE-STEALERS.  — 

THEORY      OF      INUNDATIONS.          VULTURES.    SMELTING 

IRON. —LOSS    OF   MEDICINES.  LAKE  TANGANYIKA.   

CROPPING  EARS.  HISTORY  OF  JOSEPH  AND  HIS  BRETH- 
REN   FAMILIAR   TO    THE    NATIVES.   CURRENT  THROUGH 

TANGANYIKA.  TIMIDITY    GF    PEOPLE.   CIRCUMCISION. 

 BEAUTIFUL  COUNTRY.  ILLNESS.  REACHES  LUALABA. 

The  journal  of  Dr.  Livingstone's  third  expedition  into 
the  interior  of  Africa  begins  with  his  arrival  at  Zanzibar, 
Jan.  28,  1866,  having  sailed  from  Bombay  on  the  5th. 
With  the  help  of  letters,  and  a  superb  present  (a  steamer 
from  the  Chinese  fleet)  for  the  sultan  of  Zanzibar  (through 
whose  loosely  governed  domain  he  was  to  proceed)  from 
the  Governor  of  Bombay,  many  facilities  were  furnished 
Livingstone  at  the  outset  of  his  undertaking,  including  a 
letter  commending  him  to  the  head  men  of  the  tribes, 
which  fairly  commenced  on  the  19th  of  March ;  the  party 
sailing  from  Zanzibar  in  u  The  Penguin,"  Lieut.  Garforth 
commanding,  and  consisting  of  thirteen  sepoys,  ten 
Johanna  men,  nine  Nassack  boj^s,  two  Shupanga  men, 
and  two  Wai}Tans  (Wakatani  and  Chuma)  who  had  been 
liberated  from  slavers  by  the  doctor  and  Bishop  McKen- 
zie  in  1861. 

His  diary  proper  has  this  characteristic  introduc- 
tion :  — 

361 


352  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 

"March  19. — We  start  this  morning  at  ten,  a.m.  I 
trust  that  the  Most  High  may  prosper  me  in  this  work, 
granting  me  influence  in  the  eyes  of  the  heathen,  and 
helping  me  to  make  my  intercourse  beneficial  to  them." 

Three  da}Ts  subsequently  we  find  the  party  at  Rovum& 
Ba}r,  about  two  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  Rovuma 
River .  But  the  swollen  state  of  vhe  river,  and  the  heavy 
jungle  and  miry  ground,  made  it  impossible  to  find  any 
available  roadwa}' ,  especially  for  the  camels,  mules,  buffa- 
loes, and  donkeys;  and  it  was  finally  decided  to  land  at 
Pemba,  north  side  of  entrance  to  Mikindany  Bay,  some 
twenty-five  miles  farther  north.  The  animals  were  thought 
necessary  to  carry  the  baggage  and  goods  of  the  party, 
—  the  goods  consisting  chiefly  of  cloth  and  beads,  the 
articles  most  in  demand  in  trading  with  tribes  all  through 
Africa,  a  yard  or  a  fathom  of  the  former  purchasing 
almost  any  amount  of  food,  and  a  string  of  the  latter 
being  the  open  sesame  to  favors  of  the  largest  degree. 
J3ut  one  b}^  one  the  beasts  succumbed,  either  to  the  poi- 
sonous bite  of  the  tsetse  fly,  or  to  abuse  and  overwork  by 
his  sepoy  attendants.  Here  the  outfit  for  the  trip  was 
landed,  and  the  work  of  preparation  entered  upon.  We 
began  to  prepare  saddles  of  a  very  strong  tree  called 
ntibwe,  used  for  making  the  hooked  spears  for  killing 
hippopotami,  —  very  strong  and  tough.  I  also  applied  for 
twenty  carriers,  and  a  Banian  engaged  to  get  them.  In 
view  of  the  great  object  contemplated,  Mr.  Livingstone 
says  at  this  point,  64 1  feel  quite  exhilarated.  When  one 
travels  with  the  .  .  .  view  of  ameliorating  the  condition 
of  the  natives,  every  act  becomes  ennobled." 

April  4,  1866.  —  When  about  to  start  from  Pemba,  one 
of  the  buffaloes  gored  a  donkey  so  badly  that  he  had  to  be 


GREAT  MOISTURE. 


353 


shot.  Our  path  lay  in  a  valley,  with  well-wooded  heights 
on  each  side.  The  route  was  nearly  south,  taking  us 
generally  in  the  direction  of  the  Rovunia  River,  undo- 
Ben  Ali,  a  Somalie  guide.  [The  most  of  the  way  till 
reaching  the  river  was  beset  with  dense  tangles  of  a  sin- 
gular thorn-climber,  which  so  interlaced  the  branches  of 
the  trees  as  to  oblige  them  to  employ  the  villagers  as  cut- 
ters and  carriers.  Much  trouble  was  also  experienced 
from  the  treachery  and  laziness  of  the  sepoys,  and  their 
inhuman  treatment  of  the  camels,  leading  Dr.  Livingstone 
to  regret  having  taken  them. 

Finding  the  Makonde  people  strangely  showing  them 
no  little  kindness  (for  their  habit  is  to  tax  all  travellers 
through  their  country) ,  Dr.  Livingstone  says,  "  This  is  an 
answer  to  my  praj'er  for  influence  on  the  minds  of  the 
heathen.  I  wish  I  could  speak  to  them  that  good  of  His 
name  which  I  ought."  Gum-copal  trees  abounded  here  ; 
and  the  gum  was  found  oozing  from  cuts  in  the  tree, 
and  dropping  from  the  branches.] 

April  13.  —  In  descending  the  northern  slope  down  to 
the  Rovunia,  we  caught  occasional  glimpses  of  the  coun- 
try,  seeming  to  be  covered  with  great  masses  of  dark 
green  forest.  Frequently  our  vision  was  circumscribed  to 
a  few  yards.  The  moisture  from  the  Indian  Ocean  gives 
the  vegetation  a  rank  luxuriance,  with  a  steamy,  smother- 
ing air,  making  me  feel  that  I  was,  like  it,  struggling  for 
existence,  and  no  more  capable  of  taking  bearings  than  if 
in  a  hogshead,  and  observing  through  the  bung-hole.  A 
head  man  presented  me  a  goat,  and  there  arose  a  fierce 
dispute  among  my  Moslem  attendants  about  how  its  throat 
should  be  cut.  Interesting  to  reflect  that  not  Christians 
alone  feel  keenly  on  religious  subjects. 

April  21.  — The  rapacity  of  the  Mazitu,  a  marauding 

30* 


354  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


and  slave-stealing  tribe,  is  shown  in  the  absence  of  all 
provisions  in  the  Valley  of  Mehambwe,  which  they  had 
carried  off  in  one  of  their  invasions. 

April  23.  — Passing  a  spot  where  an  animal  had  been 
burnt,  we  learned  that  the  Makonde  tribe,  when  they  kill 
a  leopard,  do  not  eat  it  (though  other  tribes  do  freely) 
because  leopards  devour  men. 

May  1 .  —  Reached  a  more  open  country,  relieving  us 
of  the  necessity  of  cutting  our  way.  Found  a  village  sur- 
rounded by  a  strong  stockade  to  protect  the  villagers  from 
the  slavers,  who  would  steal  the  women  as  they  went  to 
draw  water. 

May  3.  — Rested  in  a  Makoa  village.  Our  poodle-dog 
frightened  all  the  dogs  here,  they  not  seeming  to  know  at 
which  end  his  head  or  tail  lay. 

May  14.  — The  people  of  Hassane's  town  are  very  kind, 
but  all  are  terror-stricken  by  the  Mazitus.  We  noticed 
that  even  a  child  would  not  go  a  few  yards  for  necessary 
purposes  unless  grandmother  stood  in  sight. 

May  19.  —  Reached  the  confluence  of  Rovuma  with 
Loendi  River,  and  were  taken  over  the  stream  by  Matu- 
mora,  who  sat  on  the  bank  till  the  goods  were  all  carried 
across,  and  then  came  in  the  canoe  with  me.  He  opened 
a  fish-basket  in  the  weir,  and  gave  me  the  contents,  with 
some  green  sorghum.  He  says  the  Loendi  and  Rovuma 
come  out  of  Lake  Nyassa,  though  many  waterfalls  are  in 
their  path.    It  is  strange  if  all  this  is  a  nryth. 

June  3.  —  I  asked  Matumora  if  the  Matwambe  believed 
in  God.  He  did  not  know  him,  and  said,  if  I  asked  the 
people  if  they  prayed  to  him,  they  would  think  I  wished 
them  killed,  —  that  they  praj-ed  by  offering  a  little  meal, 
but  did  not  know  much  about  him. 

June  6.  —  Met  a  slaving  party.    Few  acknowledge  as  a 


RAVAGES  OF  SLAVE  STEALERS. 


355 


reason  for  slaving,  that  sowing  and  spinning  cotton  is  pain- 
ful. Makochera  thought  God  was  not  good,  for  he  killed 
so  many.  [Everywhere  Livingstone  finds  the  presence  of 
an  Englishman  alarming  to  the  slavers,  who  are  chiefly 
low-caste  Arabs,  and  whose  precipitate  retreat  from  him 
gave  him  additional  prestige  among  the  tribes.] 

June  12.  —  Makoloya  visited  me,  and  said  he  had 
heard  about  the  Bible,  and  his  father  had  told  him  there  is 
a  God,  but  nothing  more.  The  tattooing  on  the  people's 
bodies  much  resembles  the  old  Egyptian  drawings,  —  wavy 
lines  signifying  water,  trees.,  and  gardens. 

June  13.  —  It  is  astonishing  to  see  the  increasing  evi- 
dences of  the  slave-trade  in  the  number  of  yokes  by  the 
roadside,  indicating  how  the  poor  creatures  fell  out  of  the 
ranks  to  die.  The  African  cow  never  gives  its  milk  unless 
the  calf  is  present,  or  its  stuffed  skin,  called  "  fulchan." 
It  is  curious  that  trade-rum  is  almost  unknown  on  the  east 
coast  of  Africa.  The  Portuguese  of  South  Deigado  have 
even  erected  distilleries,  but  the  trade  will  not  succeed. 
But  beer  is  common  everywhere. 

June  19.  —  Passed  a  woman  tied  by  the  neck  to  a  tree, 
dead.  A  slaver  had  killed  her  to  prevent  any  one  else 
getting  the  benefit  of  her  sale,  as  she  dropped  from  ex- 
haustion. 

June  27.  —  We  found  a  number  of  slaves  with  slave- 
sticks  on,  abandoned  by  the  slave-traders  for  want  of 
food,  too  weak  to  speak,  and  left  fastened  together  to  die. 
Told  Chenjewala's  people  that  those  who  sold  the  slaves 
were  guilty  of  murder,  and  that  they  were  impoverishing 
their  country  besides.  They  are  dumbfounded  when  we 
tell  them  that,  in  the  eyes  of  their  Maker,  they  are  parties 
to  the  destruction  of  human  life,  and  dislike  the  idea  of 
guilt  being  attached  to  them  for  having  sold  the  many 
slaves  who  perish  on  the  way. 


356  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


July  28. — The  country  is  a  mass  of  mountains,  the 
barometer  showing  three  thousand  four  hundred  feet  abo\  e 
the  sea.  A  great  many  pieces  of  silicified  wood  appear,  a 
sure  indication  of  coal  beneath. 

Aug.  8. — We  came  to  the  lake  (Nyassa),  and  felt 
grateful  to  that  Hand  which  had  protected  us  thus  far  on 
our  journey.  It  was  as  if  I  had  come  back  to  an  old 
home. 

Aug.  30.  —  The  fear  of  the  English  by  slave-traders 
makes  them  flee  from  me  as  if  I  had  the  plague.  The 
only  dhows  on  the  lake  are  used  for  the  trade,  and  they 
fear  if  we  get  into  them  we  shall  burn  them ;  so  we  re- 
solved to  go  southward,  and  cross  the  lake  where  the 
Shire  leaves  it. 

Sept.  13. —  We  are  now  within  three  miles  of  the  end  of 
the  lake,  where  we  first  saw  the  Shire  emerge.  Many 
hopes  have  been  disappointed  here.  Far  down  the  Zam- 
besi (to  which  the  Shire  is  tributary)  lies  the  dust  of  her 
whose  death  changed  all  my  future  prospects ;  and  now, 
instead  of  a  check  being  given  to  the  slave-trade  by  law- 
ful commerce,  on  the  lake  slave-dhows  prosper. 

Sept.  17.  —  The  old  Manganja  men  said  their  fore- 
fathers never  told  them  that  after  or  at  death  they  went  to 
God,  but  had  heard  it  said  of  such  a  one  who  died,  u  God 
took  him." 

Sept.  18.  —  Our  whole  part}' crossed  the  lake  in  eight 
canoes.  A  party  of  fishermen  fled  on  seeing  us,  though 
we  shouted  to  them  that  we  were  only  a  travelling  party. 

Sept.  19.  — Found  many  people  making  salt  on  a  plain 
impregnated  with  it,  lixiviating  the  soil,  boiling  the 
water,  and  filtering  it  through  grass  in  a  pot  with  a  hole 
in  the  bottom. 

Sept.  20. — Agriculture  does  not  seem  servile;  the 


ANNUAL  INUNDATIONS. 


357 


chief  was  in  his  garden,  and  all  are  proud  of  their  skill. 
A  lion  killed  a  woman  early  yesterday  morning,  eating 
most  of  her  undisturbed. 

Sept.  24.  —  The  bogs,  or  earthen  sponges  of  this  coun- 
tiy,  founl  where  the  land  slopes  towards  a  narrow  opening 
among  the  hills,  probably  explain  the  annual  inundations 
of  most  of  the  rivers.  The  rotted  vegetation  forms  a 
rich  black  loam,  often  three  feet  thick,  resting  on  a  bed 
of  pure  river  sand.  In  the  dry  season  this  loam  is 
cracked  in  all  directions,  frequently  three  inches  wide, 
and  very  deep ;  and  the  first  of  the  rains  is  absorbed  by 
the  sand.  The  black  slushy  loam  floats  on  the  sand  ;  the 
"narrows"  prevent  its  moving  off  in  a  landslide;  and, 
when  the  second  or  greater  rains  come,  all  the  bogs  and 
river-courses  being  wet,  the  water  runs  off  and  forms  the 
inundation.  This  is  certainly  true  of  the  Zambesi  and 
Shire  ;  and,  taking  the  different  time  for  the  sun's  passage 
north  of  the  equator,  it  explains  the  inundation  of  the 
Nile. 

Oct.  9.  —  Our  altitude  is  upwards  of  four  thousand  feet 
above  the  sea,  —  the  country  very  fine,  mountains  rising 
all  around  two  to  three  thousand  feet  above  this  upland. 
Patches  of  cultivation,  squarish  in  form,  remind  us  of  the 
cultivated  fields  of  England,  minus  the  hedgerows.  The 
soil  is  tilled  by  trenching,  hoeing  deep  ;  the  soil,  grass, 
and  weeds  are  heaped  and  burnt  slowly,  the  products  of 
the  combustion  so  enriching  the  soil  as  to  produce  large 
crops.  Men,  women,  and  children  engage  in  field  labor; 
many  of  the  men  engage  in  spinning  a  fine  fibre  from  the 
roots  of  a  shrub,  and  also  cotton.  The  population  is  so 
large  that  no  wild  animals  are  seen  in  the  countn\ 

Oct.  14.  — A  woman  died  as  we  left  the  village  ;  and, 
had  she  died  before  we  began  to  move,  not  a  man  would 
have  stirred,  so  great  is  their  reverence  for  death. 


358 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


Oct.  16. —We  came  to  a  smithy,  and  watched  him 
drawing  off  his  slag  from  a  furnace.  The  ore  was  put 
into  the  top  of  the  furnace,  mixed  with  charcoal.  The 
bellows  was  formed  of  a  goat-skin. 

Oct.  20.  — In  passing  a  sepulchral  grove,  our  guide  said, 
"  My  forefathers  sleep  there."  This  is  the  first  time  I 
ever  heard  "sleep"  applied  to  death  in  these  parts. 
Clapping  the  hands  is  the  polite  wa}^  of  saying,  "  Allow 
me,"  "  I  beg  pardon,"  "  Permit  me  to  pass,"  "  Thanks," 
&c.  When  inferiors  are  called,  they  give  two  brisk  claps 
of  the  hands,  meaning  "  I  am  coming."  They  are  very 
punctilious. 

Oct.  29. — The  first  rain,  a  thunder-shower.  It  de- 
prived us  of  our  carriers,  who  all  hurried  off  to  their  gar- 
dens to  put  in  their  seed. 

Nov.  2.  —  We  found  Kangene  and  his  people  in  alarm 
from  the  ravages  by  the  Mazitu,  who  he  said  had  stripped 
them  of  their  provisions.  These  marauders  come  after 
harvest,  and  not  only  steal  the  able-bodied  young  men, 
but  make  them  carry  off  the  corn.  The  Africans'  mode  of 
life  is  enjo}Table,  if  let  alone.  They  love  agriculture, 
know  nothing  of  other  countries,  but  have  imbibed  the 
idea  of  property  in  man. 

Nov.  9.  — We  are  on  the  watershed  between  Loangwa 
of  Zumbo  on  the  west,  and  the  lake  on  the  east.  The 
Port  -guese  evidently  failed  to  trace  carefully  the  course 
of  ti  e  streams. 

Nov.  10.  — Found  a  village  of  smiths  forging  hoes.  A 
large  stone  bound  with  bark  serves  as  hammer,  and  a  large 
stone  as  anvil.  They  make  several  hoes  a  day  ;  and  the 
metal  is  very  good,  which  is  from  yellow  hematite,  and 
abounds  everywhere  here. 

Nov.  13.  —  A  lion  gave  a  growl  last  night  on  finding 


SJBK  CLOTH. 


35& 


he  could  not  get  our  meat.  The  people  kept  up  a  shout- 
ing to  keep  him  away.  A  good  portion  of  the  trees  have 
been  cut  down  for  charcoal. 

Nov.  16. — An  elephant  came  near  enough  last  night 
to  scream  at  us.  The  iron-trade  must  have  prevailed  a 
long  time,  judging  from  what  we  saw  of  slag,  broken  pots, 
calcined  pipes,  &c.  The  people  say  they  were  taught  to 
smelt  iron  by  Chisumpi  (God) . 

Dec.  6.  — Too  ill  to  march  [the  first  illness  the  doctor 
notes] . 

Dec.  7. — Noticed  miniature  huts  by  the  dozen,  and 
found  that  they  are  built  where  a  child  or  relative  dies  ;  and 
on  cooking  pleasant  food,  or  brewing  beer,  some  is  placed 
there  for  the  departed. 

Dec.  9. — A  poor  child,  mother  dead,  was  crying  bit- 
terly for  its  mother.  The  women  kept  saying, ' 8  She  is  com- 
ing ; "  but  the  starved  child  died  to-day,  as  no  one  will 
nurse  another's  child.  A  continuous  tapping  shows  that 
bark  cloth  is  being  made.  The  bark  is  steeped  in  water 
till  the  outer  bark  can  be  separated ;  then  begins  the  tap- 
ping with  a  mallet,  the  face  cut  in  small  furrows,  often  of 
ebony,  so  as  to  soften  and  not  break  the  fibres. 

Dec.  18. — So  many  new  bird-notes  heard  shows  the 
country  to  be  rich  in  ornithology,  as  well  as  all  other 
game,  —  zebras,  pallahs,  gnus,  &c. 

Christmas  Day,  1866.  —  Guide  led  us  where  he  expected 
to  find  the  rhinoceros,  but  only  saw  their  tracks.  Lost 
four  goats,  which  I  felt  keenly.  Indigestible  porridge  for 
fare  makes  me  dream  of  better. 

Dec.  30. — The  forest  resounds  with  singing  birds, 
whippoorwills  among  them,  and  one  uttering  "  Oh,  ho, 
ho  ! "  I  observed  the  brown  ibis,  a  noisy  bird,  restrains 
its  loud,  harsh  voice  when  driven  from  the  tree  in  which 


360  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


its  nest  is,  and  when  a  quarter  of  a  mile  off  commences 
his  loud  "  Ha,  ha,  ha  !  "  We  had  so  little  to  eat  that  I 
dreamed  all  night  of  dinners  I  had  eaten,  or  might  have 
been  eating.  I  shall  make  this  beautiful  land  better 
known,  which  is  an  essential  part  of  the  process  of  making 
it  the  "  pleasant  haunts  of  men."  Most  of  its  rich  luxu- 
riance is  running  to  waste  through  the  slave-trade  and 
internal  wars. 

We  now  end  1866.  It  has  not  been  so  fruitful  or  use- 
ful as  I  intended.  Will  try  to  do  better  in  1867,  and  be 
better. 

Jan.  1,  1867.  —  May  He  who  was  full  of  grace  and  truth 
impress  his  character  on  mine  ! 

Jan.  4.  —  We  are  on  the  north-western  brim  of  the  great 
Loangwa  Valley,  and  in  a  set-in  rain.  The  people  take 
this  time  to  hunt  elephants,  as  they  get  bogged  in  the  soft 
mud. 

Jan.  12.  —  Sitting  down  this  morning  near  a  tree,  my 
head  was  just  one  yard  off  a  goocl-sized  cobra,  coiled  up 
in  the  sprouts  at  its  root,  but  benumbed  with  cold. 

Jan.  20.  —  [The  journal  has  an  extended  and  most 
painful  allusion  to  the  desertion  of  two  Wai}-au  attendants, 
who  carried  off  the  medicine-box,  on  which  Dr.  Living- 
stone depended  so  greatly,  leaving  him  destitute  of  reme- 
dies entirety .  This,  added  to  the  great  scarcity  of  food, 
greatly  distressed  him.  And  his  friend,  Rev.  Mr.  Walker, 
compiler  of  his  Journal,  thinks  that  to  this  disaster  is 
mainly  owing  his  death,  he  being  utterly  unable  to  coun- 
teract the  malarial  poison  contracted.] 

Jan.  24. — On  the  Movushi,  a  sluggish  stream;  made 
sheds  on  west  side.  At  last  found  food  in  good  supply. 
Bed  and  pink  beads  are  in  fashion,  and  fortunately  we 
have  red.    Beads  are  an  important  item  of  currency  all 


TRADE  IN  BEADS. 


361 


through  Africa.  With  a  few  exceptions,  they  are  all  made 
in  Venice  ;  and  great  care  must  be  had  by  the  traveller,  as 
ignorance  of  the  prevailing  fashion  ma}r  leave  on  his  hands 
a  stock  utterly  worthless  to  him.  The  Waiyau  prefer 
exceedingly  small  beads  of  various  colors,  but  opaque. 
A  red  bead  of  various  sizes,  red  in  centre,  is  always  valu- 
able in  any  part  of  the  country ;  and  they  give  it  a  name 
signifying  birds'  eyes,  —  "  masokantussi."  A  peculiarly 
long  bead  maybe  sent  to  the  west  coast,  but. never  to  the 
east.  "  Machua  Kanga,"  guinea-fowls9  eyes,  is  another 
popular  variety.  But  b}-  far  the  most  valuable  of  all  is  a 
small  white  oblong  bead,  looking,  when  strung,  like  joints 
of  the  cane-root.  It  is  said  one  pound  of  these  will  buy  a 
tusk  of  ivory  in  the  south  Tanganyika  country  so  large 
fhat  a  strong  man  cannot  carry  it  more  than  two  hours. 

Jan.  25. —  I  observe  that  vultures  hover  about  when 
we  begin  making  our  sheds,  but  after  watching  a  while, 
seeing  no  meat,  the}'  depart ;  which  proves  they  are  guided 
by  sight,  not  by  smell. 

Jan.  27. —  Waded  across  two  miles  of  flooded  flats, 
going  northward. 

Jan.  31. —  Having  reached  the  Chambeza  River,  we 
were  told  that  the  head  man,  Chitapangwa,  must  be 
"  approached  with  something  in  our  hands."  We  passed 
through  the  inner  stockade,  and  then  on  to  an  enormous 
hut,  where  sat  Chitapangwa,  with  three  drummers,  and  ten 
or  more  men  with  rattles  in  their  hands.  The  drummers 
beat  furiously,  and  the  rattlers  kept  time  to  the  drums.  I 
declined  to  sit  on  the  ground,  and  an  enormous  tusk  was 
brought  for  me. 

Feb.  3.  —  The  head  man  of  a  slave  party  left  for  the 
coast,  b}T  whom  we  sent  a  packet  of  letters  to  be  delivered 
at  Zanzibar,    (They  reached  England  safely.) 
at 


362  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


Feb.  8. —  Chitapangwa  demands  one  of  my  boxes  and 
a  blanket.  I  explain  that  the  only  blankets  we  bave 
belong  to  the  boys,  who  are  not  slaves.  He  thinks  we 
have  some  self-interest  to  secure  in  going  through  his 
country  ;  and  when  I  told  him  it  was  for  a  public  benefit, 
he  pulled  down  the  under  lid  of  his  right  eye ! 

Feb.  10.  —  Had  service  in  the  open  air,  many  looking 
on.  I  spoke  to  the  chief,  who  believes  nothing  only  what 
Sptke  and  Burton's  man  has  told  him. 

Feb.  17.  —  Too  ill  with  rheumatic  fever  to  have  service, 
—  the  first  attack  of  it  I  ever  had,  and  no  medicine  !  But 
I  trust  in  the  Lord. 

Feb.  19. — A  glorious  day  of  bright  sunlight.  We 
scarce  ever  have  a  twenty-four  hours  without  rain,  and 
never  half  that  period  without  thunder. 

Feb.  23.  —  Came  to  Moamba's  village.  Spoke  to  him 
about  the  Bible.  He  asked  me  to  come  next  day,  and  tell 
him  about  prayer  to  God. 

March  10.  — Have  been  ill  with  fever  ever  since  we  left 
Moamba's.  Every  step  I  take  jars  in  the  chest ;  and  I  am 
very  weak,  can  scarcely  keep  up  the  march. 

March  22.  —  Saw  men  from  Tanganyika. 

March  28.  —  Saw  cotton-bushes  of  very  large  size. 

March  31,  April  1, 1867.  —  Went  up  a  low  ridge  of  hills  : 
and,  soon  after  passing  the  summit,  the  blue  water  of  Tan- 
ganyika loomed  through  the  trees,  two  thousand  feet  below 
us,  surrounded  by  a  nearly  perpendicular  ridge.  It  is  about 
eighteen  or  twent}^  miles  broad,  and  we  could  see  about 
thirty  north.  I  never  saw  any  thing  so  still  and  peaceful 
as  the  lake  all  the  morning.  Fishermen  enumerate 
twenty-four  species  of  fish  with  which  it  abounds.  I  am 
excessively  weak,  cannot  walk  without  tottering,  but  the 
Highest  will  lead  me  farther.    The  latitude  we  find  to  be 


AN  EARTHQUAKE.  363 

8°  46'  54"  S.,  long.  31°  57',  by  working  out  only  one  set 
of  observations  (my  head  is  out  of  order)  ;  height  above 
level  of  sea,  over  twenty-eight  hundred  feet.  The  people 
will  not  let  me  sound  the  lake.  They  suspect  u*,  and  we 
can  get  no  information.  The  lake  discharges  its  water? 
north-north- west  ward.  [Speaks  of  several  attacks  of 
insensibility,  some  hours  elapsing  before  recognizing  his 
whereabouts,  — the  result  of  fever  unchecked  b}r  inedicine  ] 

May  1.  — We  intend  to  go  north-west  to  see  if  the  lake 
narrows.  Streams  about  fifteen  yards  wide,  knee-deep, 
are  almost  innumerable.  Cotton  of  the  Pernambuco  spe- 
cies is  quite  freely  cultivated.  Much  black  and  white 
striped  cloth  was  made  in  these  parts  before  the  Mazitu 
raids  began.  Curious  it  should  only  be  found  in  the  middle 
of  this  country.  Mairy  of  the  shawls  are  seen  yet.  Natives 
tell  of  the  river  Liemba,  a  great  way  north-west,  dammed 
up  by  rocks,  with  a  great  waterfall. 

June  1. — Advised  to  go  up  the  east  side  of  the  lake 
(Tanganyika)  to  Ujiji,  but  that  would  ruin  my  plan  of 
discovering  whether  the  watershed  of  Lake  Moero  is  that 
of  the  Congo  or  the  Nile.  An  Arab  tells  me  the  water 
of  Tanganyika  flows  south. 

July  1. —  The  men  are  very  particular  as  to  the  time  of 
offering  prayers  and  making  charms.  To-night  it  was 
exactly  ten,  p.m. 

July  6.  — An  earthquake  this  afternoon,  with  a  hollow, 
rumbling  sound,  made  me  for  a  few  seconds  feel  as  if 
afloat. 

July  7.  —  Before  starting  this  morning,  the  men  put 
incense  on  some  hot  coals  ;  and  all  the  leaders  joined  in  a 
short  pi  xyer,  seeming  earnest  and  sincere. 

July  29.  —  Marriage  is  forbidden  to  the  first,  second, 
and  third  degrees ;  first  and  second  cousins  are  called 
brothers  and  sisters. 


864  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


Aug  7.  —  A  man  tells  me  the  Tanganyika  flows  north, 
and  forms  a  large  water  beyond  Uganda. 

Oct.  30.  —  Two  ugly  images,  used  in  rain-making  and 
healing  ceremonies,  nearest  approach  to  idol-worship  yet 
seen. 

Nov.  8. — Came  to  Lake  Moero,  which  is  flanked  by 
mountain  ranges  on  the  east  and  west. 

Nov.  15.  —  This  is  the  home  of  the  negro,  their  fea- 
tures small  and  well  rounded,  such  as  we  see  in  ancient 
Egyptian  pictures.  In  this  vicinity  saw  some  most  dis- 
tressing illustrations  of  the  horrors  of  slave-trading. 

Nov.  24.  —  Accounts  given  us  appear  to  show  that  the 
waters  of  Lake  Moero  have  an  outlet  at  the  north-west 
end,  called  Lualaba,  passing  through  another  lake ;  still 
another  beyond  Tanganyika.  Carembe,  the  head-man 
here,  seems  tjTannical,  cropping  off  the  ears,  and  lopping 
off  the  hands  of  his  people,  almost  at  will ;  so  that  many 
of  his  people  thus  mutilated,  and  some  principal  ones  too 
seemingly,  present  a  most  repulsive  aspect. 

Dec.  1.  —  Perembe,  said  to  be  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years  old,  a  sensible  man,  has  the  idea  of  all  men  being 
derived  from  a  single  pair. 

Dec.  15.  —  [Prepares  a  despatch  to  Lord  Clarendon, 
reciting  his  course  of  exploration,  and  the  general  impres- 
siDns  he  had  verified  somewhat  carefully,  touching  the 
piobabilit}^  of  the  head- waters  of  the  Nile  being  located  in 
the  vicinity  of  his  present  discoveries.  Instances  of  hot 
fountains  are  noted,  with  some  shocks  of  earthquakes, 
sometimes  at  night,  setting  the  fowls  cackling,  and  chan- 
ging the  rates  cf  the  chronometers  considerably.  He 
notices  'iie  long,  strong  stapled  cotton,  seeds  clustering 
and  adhering  together,  evidently  of  the  Pernambuco  va- 
riety, found  in  all  the  central  regions  of  Africa.] 


SPRINGS  OF  THE  NILE. 


365 


Jan.  1,  1868. —  "Almighty  Father,  forgive  the  sins  of 
the  past  year,  for  thy  Son's  sake.  If  I  am  to  die  this 
year,  prepare  me  for  it." 

Feb.  25. —  Mungo  Park  mentions  the  Africans  in  the 
interior  of  the  west  in  possession  of  the  stories  of  Joseph 
and  his  brethren,  and  others  ;  and  they  wer«  much  aston- 
ished that  Mungo  knew  of  them.  The  Katanza  people 
are  afraid  to  dig  gold,  believing  "  Ngolu"  (Satan)  owns 
it,  and  hid  it  in  the  earth.  Their  fear  of  death  is  remark- 
ably strong.  Some  Arabs  believe  a  serpent  on  one  of 
the  Nyanza  lakes  has  the  power  of  speaking,  and  is  the 
same  that  beguiled  Eve.  It  is  a  crime  to  kill  a  serpent. 
If  a  child  cuts  the  upper  front  teeth  first,  it  is  killed,  as 
unluck}', —  a  wide-spread  superstition .  Mohamad  bin  Saleh 
says  the  Mohammedans  never  proselyte  Africans,  and 
never  translate  the  Koran ;  so  that  Capt.  Burton's  idea 
that  the  Mohammedans  would  make  the  best  missionaries 
to  Africa,  is  about  like  saying  they  would  catch  more  birds 
than  Christians,  as  they  would  put  salt  on  their  tails. 

April  2.  —  If  I  am  not  deceived  by  information 
received  from  various  reliable  sources,  the  springs  of  the 
Nile  rise  between  9°  and  10°  south  latitude,  or  at  least 
four  hundred  miles  south  of  the  south  end  of  Speke's 
source  ;  and  Tanganyika  is  an  expansion  of  the  Nile,  and 
so  is  Lake  Chowambe,  the  two  lakes  being  connected  by 
the  River  Loancla. 

June  24.  —  Found  a  group  of  slaves  singing,  "  Oh,  you 
sent  me  off  to  Manga  [sea-coast]  ;  but  the  }'oke  is  off 
when  I  die,  and  back  I  shall  come  to  kill  3  ou ;  "  and  was 
told  that  they  were  rejoiced  at  the  idea  of  coming  back 
after  death  to  hunt  and  kill  those  who  had  sold  them. 
They  had  a  chorus,  weaving  in  the  names  of  their  captors. 

July  3.  —  The  sources  I  shall  report  as  flowing  into  the 

31* 


366  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


central  line  of  drainage  formed  by  the  Chambeze,  Luapula, 
and  Lualaba,  are  thirteen  in  all.  Five  go  through  Tan- 
ganyika. 

Aug.  31. — The  notion  of  a  rainy  zone  of  perpetual 
showers  receives  no  confirmation  from  my  observations. 
I  account  for  the  great  humidity  here  by  the  prevailing 
winds  from  the  Indian  Ocean  meeting  those  from  the 
Atlantic. 

Oct.  23.  —  On  the  Zambesi,  and  among  the  Wanyamwesi, 
a  slave  changes  masters  bj^  going  to  one  he  likes  better, 
and  breaking  a  bow  or  spear  in  his  presence  ;  and  the  new 
master  may  keep  him  till  he  gets  his  full  price.  A  case 
of  this  kind  happened  3'esterday.  25. — The  Koran  is 
consulted  as  authority  for  staying  another  day.  This  is 
very  trying. 

Nov.  22.  — Africans  cannot  stand  sneers.  If  a  mishap 
occurs,  a  yell  of  derision  is  set  up  ;  if  one  is  tired,  and  sits 
down,  the  same  j-ell  greets  him.    It  is  a  spur  to  exertion 

Jan.  1 , 1869.  —  [After  pressing  on  to  reach  Tanganyika, 
the  doctor  finds  himself  quite  ill  from  crossing  the  Lofuko 
in  water  to  the  waist,  and  very  cold.  Seems  to  have  lost 
count  of  the  days  and  wreeks  ;  and  the  next  date  is,  — ] 

About  Jan.  7.  —  Cannot  walk,  —  pneumonia  of  right 
lung.  Cough  all  day  and  all  night.  If  I  look  at  a 
piece  of  wood,  the  bark  is  covered  with  figures  and  faces 
of  men,  which  remain  though  I  look  away.  Saw  nryself 
tying  dead  in  the  way  to  Ujiji,  and  all  the  letters  I  ex- 
pected there  useless.    Cupped  my  chest. 

Jan.  8,  9.  —  Have  to  be  carried,  the  first  time  in  my 
life.  Cannot  raise  myself  to  sitting  posture.  Momauad 
gave  me  a  sharp  purgative. 

Feb.  14.  —  Arrived  at  Tanganyika.  15.  —  Cough  and 
pain  in  chest  diminished,  thanks  to  the  great  Father  in 
heaven. 


CURRENT  THROUGH  TANGANYIKA.  367 


March  7.  — Were  received  at  Katanza  by  a  young  Arab 
muscat,  who  dined  us  sumptuously. 

March  8. —  Found  a  current  flows  through  the  middle 
of  the  lake,  where  the  water  is  quite  sweet,  while  on  the 
borders  and  up  the  inlets  it  is  quite  brackish,  like  the  sea. 

March  14.  —  Reach  Ujiji,  and  next  day  took  account 
of  my  goods  which  were  left  from  the  plundering.  Sixty- 
two  out  of  eighty  pieces  cloth,  and  most  of  my  best  beads, 
were  stolen.  Medicines,  wine,  and  cheese  at  Unyanyembe, 
tlrrteen  days  east ;  and  the  road  blocked  by  a  Mazitu  war. 

March  28.  —  Cough  ceased,  and  I  walk  half  a  mile. 

April  27.  —  Busy  writing  letters  home,  and  finished 
forty-two.  Find  it  difficult  to  send  letters  ;  they  suspect 
I  will  reveal  their  treachery  to  the  governor  of  Unyembe. 
[A  note  says  the  letters  must  have  been  destrc^ed,  for 
they  never  arrived  at  Zanzibar.] 

May  19.  —  [Contains  a  just  and  discriminating  resume 
of  the  lack  of  sympathy  which  our  struggle  against  the 
late  Rebellion  met  with  from  Englishmen,  summing  up 
the  whole  thus  :  "  Large  numbers  of  Englishmen  are  not 
slaveholders  only  because  the  law  forbids  it."] 

June  7. — It  is  remarkable  that  all  Ujiji  Arabs  who 
have  any  opinion  on  the  subject  believe  all  the  water  in 
the  north,  and  in  the  south  too,  flows  into  Tanganyika, 
but  have  no  conjecture  where  it  then  goes. 

June  28.  — The  current  in  Tanganyika  is  well  marked 
where  a  river  flows  into  it,  the  current  moving  north 
nearly  a  mile  an  hour.  May  the  Highest  direct  me,  that 
I  may  finish  creditably  the  work  I  have  begun  !  [In  ex- 
ploring this  hitherto  unknown  Manyuema  region,  the 
doctor  was  aided  by  the  rumor,  quite  current,  that  ivory 
abounded  there;  and  therefore  the  natives  were  more 
willing  to  go.] 


368  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


July  14. —  Sounded  the  lake  opposite  Mount  Kabogo, 
and  found  it  1,965  feet. 

Sept.  17.  —  Our  people  are  all  afraid,  if  they  go  out 
of  sight,  the  natives  will  kill  them.  This  shows,  proba- 
bly, why  so  little  exploration  of  the  country  at  the  north 
has  been  made. 

Sept.  22.— There  grows  a  species  of  wood  here,  which, 
if  a  fire  is  made  of  it,  emits  a  horrid  fecal  smell,  pervad- 
ing the  entire  camp. 

Sept.  29.  —  Visited  a  hot  fountain,  temperature  150°, 
slightly  saline  in  taste,  steam  issuing  continually. 

Oct.  9 .  —  Circumcision  is  general  among  all  the  Man- 
yuema  people,  but  is  never  performed  during  a  drought. 

Nov.  4.  —  This  (Manyuema)  country  is  surpassingly 
beautiful,  the  soil  excessively  rich.  The  maize  bends  its 
fruit-stalk  round  into  a  sort  of  hook,  and  lines  of  the 
climbing  plant  are  trained  in  hedges,  along  which  the 
maize  cobs  are  suspended  by  its  hooked  stalk,  making  a 
sort  of  upright  granary,  from  which  the  ripe  fruit  is  picked 
when  needed. 

Jan.  1,  1870.  — The  Lord  help  me  to  finish  the  work 
in  hand  before  the  year  is  out !  Thanks  for  all  last  year's 
loving  kindness. 

Jan.  15.  —  Suffered  from  choleraic  purging,  brought  on 
by  the  wet,  and  bad  water.    27-30.  — Rest  in  camp. 

Feb.  3.  —  While  sitting  under  an  umbrella  in  a  drench- 
ing rain,  a  little  treefrog  near  me  began  a  tune,  loud  and 
sweet,  surprising  me  at  so  much  music  from  so  small  a 
musician. 

Feb.  7. — Went  into  quarters.  Rest,  shelter,  and 
using  boiled  water,  and  the  potato  species  called  nyumbo, 
soon  put  me  all  to  rights  again. 

Feb.   22.  —  Confirmed    in  my  conjecture   that  the 


TEE  GARDEN  OF  EDEN. 


369 


Lualaba  is  lower  than  Tanganyika,  by  the  falls  we 
found. 

March  25. — The  mamba  fish  has  breasts  with  milk, 
and  utters  a  cry.    Its  flesh  is  very  white. 

May  1 .  —  Killed  an  elephant  which  h**d  three  good- 
sized  tusks. 

June  26.  — My  people  failed  me  ;  and  with  only  Suri, 
Cliuma,  and  Gardner,  I  started  north-west  for  the  Lualaba. 

July,  1870.  —  For  the  first  time  in  my  life  my  feet  fail 
me  ;  irritable  ulcers  fasten  on  both  feet. 

[The  doctor  turned  back  here.  He  adds,  medicine  has 
little  effect  on  these  wounds.] 

Aug.  8.  —  I  learn  from  two  men  who  have  been  be3'ond 
Katanza,  that  seven  days  west  of  that  point  flows  another 
Lualaba,  and  that  there  is  a  large  lake  called  Chibungo, 
formed,  probably  by  the  Sufira  and  Lualaba.  Were  this 
spot  in  Armenia,  it  would  serve  exactly  the  description  in 
Genesis  of  the  Garden  of  Eden,  with  its  four  rivers.  It 
may  have  given  occasion  to  the  story  told  to  Herodotus 
about  the  two  conical-topped  hills,  "  midway  between 
which  are  the  fountains  of  the  Nile,  which  it  is  impossible 
to  fathom,  half  the  water  running  north  into  Eg}^pt,  and 
half  to  the  south  into  Ethiopia."  The  water-shed  is 
between  seven  hundred  and  eight  hundred  miles  long, 
from  east  to  west,  say  from  22°  or  23°  to  34°  or  35°, 
east  longitude  ;  parts  of  it  enormous  sponges,  others  in- 
numerable rills,  forming  rivulets,  which,  again,  form 
rivers.  The  convex  surface  of  the  nose  of  a  garden 
watering-can  is  a  tolerable  similitude.  [Tbe  doctor  seems 
satisfied  that  the  sources  of  the  Nile  are  by  no  means  in 
Victoria  Nj^anza.  The  White  Nile,  flowing  from  this 
lake,  is  at  most  only  one  hundred  yards  broad,  while  the 
Lualaba,  far  south  of  the  point  of  its  departure,  averages 


S70 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


four  to  six  thousand  yards  in  width,  and  always  deep. 
The  severe  pneumonia  and  choleraic  attacks  from  which 
he  had  suffered,  with  the  irritable  ulcers,  warn  him,  he 
writes,  to  retire  while  life  lasts.] 

Aug.  24.  —  Four  gorillas,  or  sokos,  were  killed  y ester- 
da}^.  They  often  go  erect,  but  place  the  hand  on  the 
head,  as  if  to  steady  the  ; body,  making  an  ugly-looking 
beast ;  bandy-legged,  pot-bellied,  low-looking,  and  villan- 
ous.    Takes  away  my  appetite. 

Sept.  26,  1870. — Ulcers  healing,  after  having  been  laid 
up  eighty  days.    They  kill  many  slaves. 

Oct.  4.  —  [Under  this  date,  Dr.  Livingstone  at  length 
gives  his  reasons  for  rejecting  the  theory  of  the  Chambeze 
being  a  branch  of  the  Zambesi.  It  took  him  eighteen 
months  to  wTork  out  this  correction,  and  twenty-two 
months  in  exploring  Bangweolo,  Chambeze,  Luapula, 
Moero,  and  Lualaba.  After  spending  two  full  years  at  this 
work,  the  chief  Casembe  was  the  first  to  throw  light  on 
the  subject,  hy  saying,  44  It  is  the  same  water  here  as  in 
the  Chambeze,  the  same  in  Moero,  and  Lualaba  ;  and  one 
piece  of  water  is  just  like  another."  He  gives  the  names 
of  Pres.  Lincoln  and  Lord  Palmerston  to  important  bodies 
of  water, —  44  Palmerston  Fountain"  to  the  upper  Zam- 
besi, and  4 '  Lincoln  Lake"  to  what  had  been  known  as 
Lake  Chibungo,  —  in  honor  of  the  labors  of  these  noble  men 
for  the  abolition  of  slaver}-.] 

Oct.  10.  —  Came  out  of  my  hut  to-day,  after  being 
confined  to  it  since  Jul}'. 

Oct.  25.  —  [His  plan  seemed  to  be  to  go  down  the  Cen- 
tral Lualaba,  or  Webb's  Lake  River,  then  up  the  Western 
or  Young's  Lake  River,  to  the  head  waters  of  Katanza, 
and  then  retire.  44 1  pray  it  may  be  to  my  native  home," 
he  adds.    He  has  a  strong  impression  that  some  evidence 


BR  OKEN—HEARTEDNESS. 


871 


might  be  found,  showing  that  Moses  might  possibly  have 
penetrated  somewhere  hereabouts  (dated  Bambarre).] 

Oct.  29. —  The  Manyuena  buy  their  wives.  A  pretty 
girl  brings  ten  goats.  Saw  one  brought  home  to-day, 
coming  jauntily,  with  one  attendant,  husband  walking 
behind. 

Nov.  11.  — u  The  education  of  the  world  is  a  terrible 
one,  and  it  has  come  down  with  relentless  rigor  on  Africa, 
from  the  most  remote  times.  .  .  .  When  the  Highest  ac- 
complishes his  purposes,  this  will  be  a  wonderful  country 
again,  —  something  like  what  it  was  of  old,  when  Zerah 
and  Tirhakah  flourished  and  were  great." 

Dec.  10. —  [Refers  to  the  badger  which  furnished  the 
skins  for  the  tabernacle  covering.  Several  references  are 
made  to  the  terrible  effects  of  the  slave-trading  barbar- 
ities. The  neggeri  attacks  the  tenderest  parts  of  man  and 
beast,  biting  them  off,  and  retiring  contented.  Buffaloes 
are  often  castrated  by  them.  Men  who  know  it  squat 
down,  and  kill  it  with  knife  or  gun.] 

Dec.  28. — The  strangest  disease  I  have  seen  in  this 
country  seems  really  broken-heartedness,  and  attacks  free 
men  who  have  been  made  slaves  by  capture.  Syde  bin 
Habib  had  captured  a  large  number  of  young  men,  and 
took  them  in  chains  across  the  Lualaba.  They  endured 
their  chains  till  they  saw  this  broad  river  rolling  between 
them  and  their  homes,  when  eight  of  them  died  in  three 
da}Ts,  ascribing  their  only  pain  to  their  heart.  The  slavers 
express  surprise,  as  they  have  plenty  to  eat,  and  no  work. 
It  seems  really  a  broken  heart  of  which  they  die. 

Jan.  1,  1871.  —  O  Father!  help  me  to  finish  this  work 
to  thy  honor.  Frustrated  continually  in  obtaining  canoes  ; 
singular  deceptiveness  perpetrated  by  all  we  try  to  bar- 
gain with. 


372 


LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


March  31.  —  Reached  the  Lualaba.  Found  it  narrower 
than  higher  up,  though  at  least  three  thousand  3-ards  wide, 
and  always  deep,  —  never  can  be  waded  at  any  time  of  the 
year,  or  at  airy  point.  The  current  is  about  two  mile  an 
hour  to  the  north. 

Ap'4il  4. —  The  Arabs  ask  many  questions  about  the 
Bible --how  many  prophets  have  appeared;  say  they 
believe  in  them  all,  but  never  heard  of  Baalim,  nor  of  the 
two  hundred  and  fifty  false  prophets  of  Jezebel  and  Ahab. 

May  24.  — The  markets  of  the  natives  are  busy  scenes. 
Every  one  is  dead  earnest.  Little  time  is  lost  in  friendly 
greetings.  Each  is  intensely  eager  to  barter  the  articles 
the%y  bring,  making  strong  assertions  as  to  the  goodness 
or  badness  of  every  thing.  The  sweat  stands  in  beads 
on  their  faces.  Cocks  crow  briskly,  even  when  slung  over 
the  shoulder,  with  their  heads  hanging  down.  The}7  deal 
fairly ;  and  when  differences  arise  they  are  easily  settled 
by  others  interfering,  or  b}r  pointing  to  me.  They  have  a 
strong  sense  of  natural  justice.  It  is  a  scene  of  the  finest 
natural  acting  imaginable.  I  could  not  understand  the 
words  that  flowed  off  their  glib  tongues,  but  the  gestures 
were  too  expressive  to  need  interpretation. 

[Having  been  defeated  in  repeated  attempts  to  obtain 
a  canoe  for  descending  the  river,  he  says,  —  ] 

June  27.  —  In  answer  to  my  praj-ers  for  preservation,  I 
was  prevented  going  down  to  the  narrows  formed  by  a 
dyke  of  mountains  cutting  across  country,  and  jutting 
a  little  ajar,  which  makes  an  enormous  mass  of  water 
wheel  around  behind  it  helplessly,  and  overturns  tho 
canoes  which  reach  the  rock  against  which  the  water 
dashes. 

July  1. — Planned  to  go  west  to  Lomame,  then  up 
Lake  Lincoln  to  Katanza  and  the  fountains. 


MURDERS  BY  SLA VE-S TEA L ERS. 


373 


July  12,  13. — The  men  say  they  will  go  to  the  River 
Lomame,  but  no  farther  ;  fearing,  as  they  said,  they  should 
lose  their  lives. 

July  14.  — Am  perplexed  and  distressed  what  to  do,  so 
as  not  to  be  foiled.    All  seems  against  me. 

July  15.  — About  fifteen  hundred  people  came  to  mar- 
ket, though  many  villages  around  are  in  flames  from  the 
sla\e-stealing  parties.  It  was  not  long  before  the  entire 
mass  were  thrown  into  terrible  confusion  by  the  murder- 
ous firing  of  a  party  who  had  entered  the  crowd  with  their 
guns.  Large  numbers  were  shot,  and  many  who  had 
plunged  into  the  river  were  drowned.  It  gave  me  an  im- 
pression of  being  in  hell. 

July  20.  —  Start  back  for  Ujiji.  Passed  over  a  beauti- 
tul  country,  with  much  cultivation. 

July  31. — Passed  through  the  defile  between  Mount 
Kimazi  and  Mount  Kijila.  Below  a  cave  found  here,  with 
stalactite  pillar  in  its  door,  a  fine  echo  is  heard. 

32 


CHAPTER  XX. 


FIRST  HOSTILITY  OF  NATIVES.   VERY  FEEBLE.   STANLEY 

ARRIVES.   GOES   WITH    STANLEY    TO    UNYANYEMBE.  — 

STANLEY  RETURNS.  THE  DOCTOR  STARTS  FOR  THE  NILE 

FOUNTAINS.  ENCOURAGEMENT    FOR  MISSIONARY  WORK. 

REACHES  BANGWEOLO.  FAILS  RAPIDLY.   LAST  HOURS 

AND  DEATH. 

Aug.  8.  —  The  villagers  all  ran  away  as  we  came,  and 
then  threw  stones  at  us,  and  tried  to  kill  those  who  went 
for  water.  An  ambush  was  laid  in  a  narrow  path,  and 
trees  cut  down  to  obstruct  us.  A  large  spear  lunged  past 
me,  almost  grazing  my  back.  The  good  hand  of  God 
was  upon  me.  Lost  all  my  remaining  calico,  a  telescope, 
umbrella,  and  five  spears.  I  do  most  devoutly  thank  the 
Lord  for  sparing  my  life  three  times  in  one  day. 

[Here  follows,  from  Aug.  12,  a  series  of  brief  entries, 
sometimes  only  the  dates  ;  evidently  indicating  great  fee- 
bleness.] 

Sept.  23. —  I  was  sorely  knocked  up  by  this  march 
back  to  Ujiji ;  in  the  latter  part  of  it  felt  as  if  d}ing  on 
my  feet.  Almost  every  step  was  in  pain  ;  appetite  failed, 
and  a  little  bit  of  meat  caused  violent  diarrhoea ;  and  the 
mind,  sorely  depressed,  re-acted  on  the  body. 

Oct.  23.  —  Off  at  dawn,  and  go  to  Ujiji ;  welcomed  by 
all  the  Arabs.  Reduced  to  a  skeleton.  In  the  evening 
heard  that  Shereef  had  sold  off  all  my  goods,  not  leaving 

874 


MEETING  WITH  STANLEY. 


375 


a  single  yard  of  calico  out  of  three  thousand,  nor  a  string 
of  beads  out  of  seven  hundred  pounds.  He  is  evident!; 
a  moral  idiot,  for  he  came  without  shame  to  shake  hands 
with  me ;  and,  when  I  refused,  assumed  an  air  of  dis- 
pleasure. It  was  annoying  to  see  his  slaves  passing  from 
the  market  with  all  the  good  things  my  goods  had  bought. 

Oct.  24.  —  When  my  spirits  were  at  the  lowest  ebb,  one 
morning  Suri  came  running  at  the  top  of  his  speed,  gasp- 
ing out,  u  An  Englishman  !  I  see  him  !  "  and  off  he  darted 
to  meet  him.  The  American  flag  at  the  head  of  the  cara- 
van, with  bales  of  goods,  baths  of  tin,  huge  kettles,  cook- 
ing-pots, tents,  &c,  made  me  think,  "This  must  be  a 
luxuriant  traveller,  and  not  one  at  his  wits'  end,  like  me." 
It  was  Henry  Moreland  Stanley,  the  travelling  correspond- 
ent of  "  The  New -York  Herald,"  sent  by  James  Gordon 
Bennett,  jun.,  at  an  expense  of  four  thousand  pounds,  to 
obtain  accurate  information  about  Dr.  Livingstone,  if  liv- 
ing, and,  if  dead,  to  bring  home  my  bones.  .  .  .  Appetite 
returned,  and  instead  of  the  spare,  tasteless  twc  meals  a 
day,  I  ate  four  times  daily,  and  in  a  week  began  to  feel 
strong.  This  disinterested  kindness  of  Mr.  Bennett,  so 
nobly  carried  into  effect  by  Mr.  Stanley,  was  simply  over- 
whelming. I  feel  extremely  grateful,  and  at  the  same 
time  a  little  ashamed  at  not  being  more  worthy  of  the 
generosity. 

Nov.  16. — As  Tanganyika-explorations  are  said  by 
Mr.  Stanley  to  be  an  object  of  interest  to  Sir  Roderick, 
we  go,  at  his  expense  and  with  his  men,  to  the  north  of 
the  lake.  [Dr.  Livingstone  had  written  former!}'  from 
the  interior,  to  the  effect  that  this  lake  poured  its  waters 
into  the  Albert  Nyanza  Lake  of  Baker,  little  realizing  the 
interest  this  announcement  was  likely  to  occasion.] 

Nov.  24.  —  At  Point  Kizuka,  in  Mukamba's  country,  a 


376  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


Molongwama  asserted  most  positively  that  all  the  water 
of  Tanganyika  flowed  into  the  River  Lusize,  and  1hen  on 
to  Ukerewe  of  Mteza.  Nothing  could  be  more  clear 
than  his  statements.  Next  day  this  man  declared,  as  posi- 
tively, that  Lusize  flowed  into  Tanganyika.  Lusize  goes 
to  or  comes  from  Luanda  and  Karagwe.  This  is  hopeful, 
but  I  suspend  judgment.    We  go  to-morrow  near  Lusize. 

Nov.  26.  —  Mr.  Stanley  has  severe  fever.  The  end  of 
Tanganyika  clearly  seen,  rounded  off  about  4'  from  east 
to  west.  27. —  At  four,  a.m.,  reached  Lohinga,  at  mouth 
of  Lusize.  28.  —  Lohinga,  a  superior  of  Mukamba,  the 
most  intelligent  and  the  frankest  chief  we  have  seen  here, 
named  eighteen  rivers,  four  of  which  enter  Tanganyika, 
and  the  rest  Lusize.  All  come  into,  none  leave  Tangan- 
yika. 

Nov.  29. — The  outlet  of  the  lake  is  probably  oy  the 
Longumba  River  into  Lualaba,  as  the  Luamo. 

Dec.  2,3.  —  111  from  bilious  attack.  Better,  and  thank- 
ful. 

Dec.  4.  — Lohinga  does  not  know  Baker's  Lake  ;  it  can- 
not be  near. 

Dec.  9.  — Leave  New- York  Herald  Islet,  and  go  south. 

Dec.  13.— Mr.  Stanley  received  from  Consul  Webb  a 
letter  of  June  12,  and  telegrams  from  Aden  to  April  29. 

Dec.  15.  — At  Ujiji,  getting  ready  to  march  east  for  my 
goods. 

[Entries  of  writing  and  packing  up  to  send  home  by 
Stanley  occur  till,  — ] 

Jan.  10,  1872.  —  Cross  a  very  lovely  green  country, 
fresh,  and  like' an  English  gentleman's  park. 

Feb.  4.  —  Mr.  Stanley  so  ill  we  carried  him  in  a  cot. 

Feb.  18. — Unyan}'embe, —  thanks  to  the  Almighty! 
Mr.  Stanley  used  some  strong  arguments  for  my  going 


THE  SOURCES  OF  THE  NILE.  377 

home,  recruiting  my  strength,  and  returning  to  finish  my 
task.  My  judgment  saj's,  "  Complete  the  exploration  of 
the  sources  of  the  Nile  before  you  retire."  Agnes  [his 
daughter]  says,  "  Much  as  I  wish  you  to  come  home,  I 
would  rather  you  would  finish  your  work  to  your  own  satis- 
faction, than  return  merely  to  gratify  me."  Rightly  and 
nobly  said,  my  darling  Nannie  !  Vanity  whispers  pretty 
loudly,  "  She's  a  chip  of  the  old  block."  My  blessing  on 
her,  and  all  the  rest !  It  is  all  but  certain  that  four  full- 
grown,  gushing  fountains  rise  on  the  watershed  eight 
days  south  of  Katanza,  each  of  which  soon  becomes  a 
large  river ;  and  two  rivers  thus  formed  flow  north  to 
Egypt,  the  other  two  south  to  inner  Ethiopia.  That  is, 
Lufra,  or  Bartle  Frere's  River,  flows  into  Kamolondo,  and 
that  into  Webb's  Lualaba,  the  main  line  of  drainage ; 
another,  on  the  north  side  of  the  sources  (Young's  Lua- 
laba), flows  through  Lake  Lincoln,  and  that  too  into 
"Webb's  Lualaba.  Then  Siambai  Fountain  (Palmerston's) 
forms  the  Upper  Zambesi ;  and  the  Lunga  (Oswell's  Foun- 
tain) is  the  Kafue,  both  flowing  into  inner  Ethiopia.  It  may 
be  that  these  are  not  the  fountains  of  the  Nile  mentioned 
to  Herodotus  by  the  secretary  of  Minerva  in  Sais,  in 
Egypt ;  but  they  are  worth  discover}',  as  in  the  last  hun- 
dred of  the  seven  hundred  miles  of  the  watershed  from 
which  nearly  all  the  Nile  springs  do  unquestionably  come. 
I  propose  going  round  the  south  end  of  Lake  Tanganyika, 
Tambete,  or  Mbete,  then  across  Chambeze,  and  round 
south  of  Lake  Bangweolo,  and  due  west  to  the  ancient 
fountains.  This  route  will  serve  to  show  that  no  other 
sources  of  the  Nile  can  come  from  the  south  without  being 
seen  by  me.  No  one  will  cut  me  out  after  this  explora- 
tion is  accomplished ;  and  may  the  good  Lord  of  all  help 
me  to  show  myself  one  of  his  stout-hearted  servants,  an 

32* 


378  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


honor  to  my  country  and  children,  and  perhaps  to  my 
country  and  race ! 

On  reaching  Unyanyembe,  found  stores  had  been  pi  cin- 
dered by  the  two  head  men  selected  by  a  slave-trader 
since  Oct.  20,  1870,  to  this  date,  nearly  sixteen  months. 
One  of  the  thieves  has  died  of  small-pox,  and  the  other 
has  broken  open  and  plundered  Mr.  Stanley's  goods. 
But  Mr.  Stanle}7  has  more  than  made  up  my  losses ; 
indeed,  I  am  quite  set  up  ;  and,  as  soon  as  he  can  send 
men  (not  slaves)  from  the  coast,  I  go  to  work  hope- 
fully. 

Feb.  20. — To  my  great  joy  I  got  four  flannel  shirts 
from  Agnes,  and  was  delighted  to  find  two  pairs  of  fine 
English  boots  from  my  friend  Mr.  Waller. 

Feb.  22.  —  Service  this  morning,  and  thanked  God  for 
safety  thus  far. 

Feb.  24.  —  Writing  a  despatch  to  Lord  Granville 
against  Banian  slave-trading,  and  in  favor  of  an  English 
native  settlement  transfer. 

[The  interval  to  March  14  is  occupied  in  writing 
despatches,  &c,  at  which  time  Mr.  Stanley  left  with  his 
journal  sealed  up  ;  and  Dr.  Livingstone  busies  himself  in 
preparations  to  renew  his  toilsome  explorations.] 

March  19.  — Birthday.  My  Jesus,  my  King,  nry  life, 
my  all !  I  again  dedicate  myself  to  thee. 

April  2.  —  Making  a  sounding-line  out  of  lint  left  by 
Mr.  Stanley. 

April  23.  — The  chief  of  the  Banyamwezi  told  me  that 
he  had,  when  a  little  boy,  followed  his  father  as  far  as 
Katanza  by  my  proposed  route  via  Fipa. 

May  1. — Finished  a  letter  for  4 '  New- York  Herald," 
trying  to  enlist  American  zeal  to  stop  the  east  coast  slave- 
trade.     [This  letter  closes  with,  u  All  I  can  add  in  my 


PRIDE  OF  MOHAMMEDANS. 


379 


loneliness  is,  may  Heaven's  rich  blessing  come  down  on 
every  one,  American,  English,  or  Turk,  who  will  help  to 
heal  the  open  sore  of  the  world !  "*  These  words  have 
been  inscribed  on  his  tablet  in  Westminster  Abbey,  and 
were  written  by  the  great  traveller  exactly  one  year  before 
his  death,  May  1,  1873.] 

Under  May  9  he  saj-s,  u  If  Baker's  expedition  should 
succeed  in  annexing  the  Valley  of  the  Nile  to  "Egypt, 
would  not  the  miserable  condition  of  the  natives  be  worse 
under  Eg}Tptian  dominion?"  [The  doctor  would  have 
been  fully  as  much  surprised  had  he  been  told  of  the 
position  taken  by  the  Khedive  of  Eg}-pt  in  regard  to  this 
"  open  sore  of  the  world,"  as  most  of  us  are  at  his  having 
done  so.] 

May  13. — He  will  keep  his  word,  the  gracious  One, 
full  of  grace  and  truth  ;  no  doubt  of  it.  He  said,  "  Him 
that  cometh  to  me,  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out ; "  and, 
"  Whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in  my  name,  I  will  give  it." 
He  vvill  keep  his  word.  Then  I  can  come,  and  humbly 
present  my  petition,  and  it  will  be  all  right.  Doubt  is 
here  inadmissible,  surely.  D.  L. 

May  17.  —  Ailing.    Making  cheeses  for  the  journey. 

May  23.  —  Little  prospect  of  Christianity  spreading  by 
ordinary  means  among  Mohammedans.  Their  pride  is 
the  great  obstacle.  No  new  invention  or  increase  of 
power,  on  the  part  of  Christians,  seems  to  disturb  their 
self-complacent  belief  that  ultimately  all  power  and 
dominion  in  this  world  will  fall  into  the  hands  of 
Moslems.  They  sa}',  4 6  Don't  3-011  know  Jerusalem  is 
ours  ?  All  the  world  is  ours ;  and  in  a  short  time  we 
shall  overcome  all." 

May  28.  —  Many  parts  of  this  interior  land  present 
most  inviting  prospects  for  well-sustained  efforts  of  pri- 


380  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


vate  benevolence.  Its  teeming  population  could  easily 
be  swayed  by  an  energetic,  prudent  missionary.  I  say  to 
missionaries,  "Come  on,  brethren,  to  the  real  heathen. 
Leave  the  coast  tribes,  and  devote  3'ourselves  heartily  to 
the  savages.  With  some  drawbacks  and  wickedness,  you 
will  find  a  great  deal  to  admire  and  love." 

[An  entry  near  the  1st  of  June  reveals  a  calculation  of 
his  projected  work,  as  occupj-ing  him  till  1874.] 

June  13.  —  Heard  through  one  of  Stanley's  men  that 
my  caravan  is  at  Ugogo. 

June  18.  —  I  trust  in  Providence  to  still  aid  me.  I 
know  the  four  rivers,  Zambesi,  Kafue,  Luapula,  and 
Lomame  ;  their  fountains  must  exist  in  one  region. 

June  21.  —  No  jugglery  or  sleight-of-hand,  as  recom- 
mended to  Napoleon  III.,  would  have  an}'  effect  in  the 
civilization  of  the  Africans ;  they  have  too  much  good 
sense  for  that.  Goodness  or  unselfishness  impresses  their 
minds  more  than  any  kind  of  skill  or  power.  The  prayer 
to  Jesus  for  a  new  heart  and  a  right  spirit  at  once  com- 
mends itself  to  them.  It  is  a  part  of  their  original  faith 
to  ascribe  every  thing  above  human  agency  to  unseen 
spirits.  Music  has  great  influence  on  those  having  musi- 
cal ears,  and  often  leads  to  conversion. 

July  7.  —  Waiting  wearily ,  hoping  the  good  and  loving 
Father  of  all  may  favor  me. 

[While  waiting  for  his  caravan  so  wearily,  this  entry 
occurs :  — ] 

Aug.  5.  —  One  is  struck  by  the  fact  of  the  children 
having  so  few  games.  Life  is  a  serious  business ;  and 
amusement  is  derived  from  imitating  the  vocations  of 
the  parents,  —  hut-building,  making  little  gardens,  bows 
and  arrows,  and  spears.  Some  are  very  ingenious  little 
fellows,  expert  in  making  traps  for  small  birds.  They 


ILLNESS. 


381 


make  play-guns  of  reeds,  which  go  off  with  a  trigger  and 
spring,  with  a  cloud  of  ashes  for  smoke.  The  boys  shoot 
locusts  with  small  toy-guns  very  cleverly. 

Aug.  15. —  The  men  came  yesterda}-,  sevent}~-four 
days  from  Bangamoio.  Most  thankful  to  the  Giver  of  all 
good  I  am.    After  a  few  days  rest  I  shall  start. 

Aug.  25.  —  Started,  making  short  marches  at  first. 
[The  company  was  made  up  of  fifty-seven  men  and  boys 
hired  by  Mr.  Stanley  on  the  coast,  and  some  more  Nas- 
sack  pupils  sent  from  Bombay  to  join  Lieut.  Dawson  ; 
among  them  are  the  names  of  John  and  Jacob  Wain- 
wright ;  and  among  Dr.  Livingstone's  original  followers 
were  Susi,  Chuma,  and  Amoda,  who  joined  him  in  1864, 
and  Malruki  and  Gardner,  two  Nassick  boj's  hired  in 
1866.] 

Sept.  19.  —  111  with  bowels,  having  eaten  nothing  for 
eight  clays. 

Sept.  21.  —  Rest  at  Simba's,  who  sent  a  handsome 
present  of  food.  Complaint  does  not  yield  to  medicine 
or  time. 

Oct.  9.  —  The  heat  makes  me  useless,  and  constrains 
me  to  lie  like  a  log.    Feel  tired  inwardly  too. 

Oct.  13.  —  Coursed  along  the  range  of  hills  parallel 
with  Lake  Tanganyika,  a  thousand  feet  above  the  water. 

Dec.  25.  —  Christmas  Day.  I  thank  the  good  Lord 
for  the  good  gift  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ. 

Jan.  22. — No  astronomical  observations  worth  nam- 
ing during  December  and  January. 

Feb.  14.  — If  the  good  Lord  gives  me  favor,  and  per- 
mit© me  to  finish  my  work,  I  shall  thank  and  bless  him, 
though  it  cost  me  untold  toil,  pain,  and  travel.  This 
trip  has  made  my  hair  all  gray. 

Feb.  22.  —  111  all  day  yesterday,  but  escaped  fever  by 
hemorrhage. 


382  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


March  1,  1873.  —  Reached  Bangweolo. 

March  25.  —  Nothing  earthly  will  make  me  give  up  my 
work  in  despair. 

April  10.  —  I  am  pale,  bloodless,  and  weak  from  bleed- 
ing profusely  ever  since  the  31st  of  March  last ;  an  artery 
gives  off  a  copious  stream,  and  takes  away  my  strength. 
How  I  long  to  be  permitted  by  the  Over  Power  to  finish 
my  work ! 

April  12.  —  Cross  the  Muanakazi,  a  hundred  or  a  hun- 
dred and  thirty  yards  broad,  and  deep.  So  weak  I  could 
hardly  walk,  but  tottered  along  two  hours,  and  then  lay 
down,  quite  clone.  Cooked  our  last  coffee.  Unwilling  to 
be  carried,  but,  being  pressed,  I  allowed  the  men  to  help 
me  along  b}'  relays  to  Chinama. 

April  20  (Sunday).  —  Service.  I  am  excessively  weak. 
The  previous  day,  says,  "  No  observations  now,  owing 
to  great  weakness.  Can  scarcely  hold ;  my  stick  is  a 
burden." 

April  21.  — Tried  to  ride,  but  was  forced  to  lie  down  ; 
and  they  carried  me  back  to  village  exhausted.  [The 
men  explain  that  he  fell  down  utterly  exhausted.  Susi 
immediately  undid  his  belt  and  pistol,  and  picked  up  his 
cap ;  and  Chum  a  ran  to  stop  the  men  on  ahead.  When 
he  got  back,  the  doctor  said,  "  I  have  lost  so  much  blood, 
there  is  no  more  strength  left  in  my  legs.  You  must 
carry  me."] 

April  25.  —  [No  entry  except  date.] 

April  26.  —[Nothing  but  date.] 

April  27.  —  [He  seemed  to  be  almost  dying,  but  roused 
himself  to  make  his  last  entrj',  as  follows:]  "  Knocked 
up,  quite;  and  remain — recover  —  sent  to  buy  milch- 
goats.  We  are  on  the  banks  of  the  Molilaruo."  [The  men 
add,  that  they  could  get  no  goats.    The  Mazitu  (slave- 


DEATH, 


383 


hunters)  had  taken  every  thing.  Thinking  he  could  eat 
some  mapira  pounded  up  with  ground-nuts,  some  was 
prepared ;  but,  when  brought  to  him,  he  could  not  take 

it.] 

April  29.  —  [The  chief  Kalunganjovu  wished  to  assist 
to  the  utmost,  and  did  all  in  his  power  to  secure  canoes 
for  crossing  the  river.  When  all  was  ready,  as  he  could 
not  walk  to  the  door  of  the  hut,  he  asked  the  men  to 
break  down  the  side  of  it,  so  that  the  kitanda,  or  palan- 
quin, might  be  brought  to  him.  While  the  embarkation 
was  going  on,  he  was  taken  to  the  shade  of  a  little  tree 
till  the  most  of  the  men  had  crossed.  On  attempting  to 
lift  him  into  the  canoe,  he  could  not  bear  the  pain  of  a 
hand  touching  his  back,  and  he  faintly  asked  Chuma  to 
stoop  down,  and  let  him  clasp  his  hands  together  behind 
his  head ;  and  in  this  way  he  was  laid  in  the  bottom  of 
the  canoe.  The  difficult  task  of  crossing  accomplished, 
the  party  hasted  as  best  they  could  for  Chitambo's  vil- 
lage ;  reaching  which,  at  length  a  hut  was  made  ready  for 
him.  A  bed  was  prepared,  and  raised  from  the  floor  ;  and 
the  doctor  was  tenderly  placed  in  it.] 

April  30.  —  [Chitambo  came  to  pay  a  visit  of  courtesy, 
but  the  doctor  was  too  weak  to  see  him.  In  the  afternoon 
he  asked  Susi  to  bring  his  watch  to  his  bedside,  and  ex- 
plained to  him  how  to  hold  it  in  his  palm,  while  he  slowly 
turned  the  key.  About  eleven,  p.m.,  Susi  was  called,  and 
asked,  "Is  this  the  Luapula?"  When  told  it  was  the 
Molilamo,  in  Suaheli,  he  asked,  "  How  many  clays  is  it  to 
the  Luapula  ?  "  "  About  three  days,"  said  Susi.  A  few 
seconds  after,  as  if  in  great  pain,  "  Oh,  dear,  dear!' 
und  dozed  off  again.  About  an  hour  later  he  asked  Susi 
to  boil  some  water.  Eeturning  with  the  copper  kettle 
full,  he  called  for  his  medicine-chest,  asking  to  have  the 


384  LIFE  OF  DAVID  LIVINGSTONE,  LL.D. 


candle  held  near  him.  as  he  could  see  with  difficulty. 

He  selected  some  calomel  :  and,  having  prepared  it.  he 
said  feebly,  4i  All  right;  you  can  go  now."  These  were 
the  last  words  he  was  ever  heard  to  speak.  About  four. 
a.m..  Majwara  came  to  Susi.  saying.  "  I  don't  know  if 
he's  alive  ; "  upon  which  Susi  roused  some  of  the  men, 
and  went  into  the  hut.  and  saw  the  doctor  appar- 
ently in  prayer:  and  Majwara  said.  "  When  I  lay  down 
he  was  just  as  he  is  now."  On  drawing  nearer,  they 
lound  him  cold  in  death,  kneeling  by  his  bedside,  his 
body  stretched  forward,  his  head  burled  in  his  hands  on 
the  pillow.] 


